All the Truth He Should Know
by angelDC
Summary: CHAPTER 13! READ AND REVIEW! it was a fine and normal morning until Yukimura accidentally hits a girl with a tennis ball and totally made him different...is this girl just somebody that will pass by his life? or does she have a bigger role? YukimuraOC
1. Chapter 1

**All the Truth He Should Know**

-clavee-

-- -- -- -- --

Author's Notes: Hi there guys! Here's another fic that I've been working on, it's another OC fic (the other story is "Exclusively Hers", hope you check that out too) but this time, my girl is going to be paired up with Yukimura. Hope you'll like this, there's a bit of OOC especially on Yukimura's part but in a very cute way (for me:p), hihi. So please read and review!:D

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis but I have all the rights for the girl in the story and the name of her school:p

-- -- -- -- --

_Chapter 1: Accidental Hit_

The cool morning air blew around a street tennis court at Kanagawa near Rikkaidai, the great buchuo of the tennis team of the said school, Yukimura Seiichi, who is now at his last year in high school, was playing against a wall to release his recent excitement and anxiousness for the upcoming kantou tournament. As he ran left and right to chase the ball being hit back by the wall, he remembered how he was not able to play at the kantou tournament back in his senior year in his junior high due to his Guillain-Barré Syndrome. The memories brought him back the pain he had felt each and every day that he wakes up in the hospital, the frustration he have inside him for not playing alongside his teammates from the prefectural to the kantou tournament, and the anger and hopelessness that enveloped him when his team lost against Seigaku on the finals of the kantou tournament. He gritted his teeth, he vowed to himself to never to leave his team again behind and to never lose again to anyone – the anger and frustrations combined with his newfound determination made his return shots harder, sharper and stronger. The speed increases shot after shot, when he finally brought himself back from his reminiscing, his eyes widened how the fast the ball is coming back to him. He could not swing his racquet to return the shot back to the wall that he just moved away from the ball's return direction.

"Watch out!" Yukimura shouted at a girl standing straight along the ball's path, the girl turned to see him and was not able to avoid the rushing ball towards her making the ball hit her hard on the forehead. She was able to see Yukimura's approaching figure but her vision blurred as she fell gently to the ground.

Yukimura knelt down beside the girl's figure and shook her, saying, "He-Hey, are you alright?" Cursing himself as the girl went totally unconscious; he took very deep breaths to calm himself down as he starts to get frantic at the current situation. _'Goodness, Seiichi, what have you done?' _he asked himself, as he look around for anyone he could ask for help. Unfortunately, he was the only one at the street tennis court that Monday morning. Sighing, he saw the girl's bag and picked it up, looking for the girl's identification card.

"Hattori Izumi, Edwards' International School," a voice read behind Yukimura.

Surprised, Yukimura quickly turned around, guardedly, with glaring eyes.

"Yo, buchuo," Niou greeted Yukimura, grinning, knowing that his buchuo was completely shocked by his presence especially that he caught him in such situation.

Sighing, Yukimura smiled at his player, and said, "Niou, it's great to see you."

"Really now, buchuo? Since when you did you got glad to see me?" Niou replied, and asked, "What happened here?"

"I accidentally hit her with a tennis ball, maybe the shot was so hard that she fainted," Yukimura explained, unconsciously putting away the girl's hair from her face, "I was just thinking what I should do when you suddenly appeared."

"Hmmm...I see," Niou muttered, looking over the girl who seems to be sleeping, "maybe we should just bring her to our school clinic, we only have fifteen minutes before our class starts and the nearest hospital is not something that we could call near so I think it'll be best if we just bring her to our school clinic since it's much nearer and we won't have to deal with any sermons because of our tardiness, what do you say?"

Yukimura thought over Niou's suggestion and could not help to admit that he have a point; if he wants a fast treatment for the girl, their school clinic would be the smart choice since it is the nearest and the two of them would not be late for their classes. He, then, turned to Niou and asked, "She couldn't have been hit that hard, could she?"

Niou chuckled, definitely enjoying his buchuo's current state; he could not stop himself from feeling really lucky. "Well…" Niou began, taking a better look at the sore spot on the girl's face which he could definitely say is the place where she got hit, "I don't know, but our clinic has x-rays so they would definitely see if you injured her that bad."

"Very funny, Niou," Yukimura retorted, rolling his eyes and looking back to the unconscious girl.

Stifling a laugh at his buchuo's unusual behavior, Niou looked over the bench where Yukimura placed his things. He picked up the girl's bag and Yukimura's racquet which was lying on the ground, completely forgotten, and walked over towards Yukimura's things, saying, "You take care of her, I'll carry your things."

Yukimura turned to Niou and was about to object but saw that Niou had already began arranging his things to accommodate his stuffs. Sighing, Yukimura placed his arms under the girl to carry her in a bridal style. Niou walked back towards his buchuo and laid his tennis jacket on the girl's legs. Curious, Yukimura looked at Niou, inquiringly. Catching his buchuo's eye, Niou explained, "C'mon, buchuo, we're just going to walk all the way to the school, do you think there are no dumbass perverts on the streets?"

"Oh, right," Yukimura replied, slightly embarrassed at his ignorance.

-- -- --

To be continued…

-- -- --


	2. Chapter 2

**All the Truth He Should Know**

-clavee-

-- -- -- -- --

Author's Notes: Here's the second chapter! I thought I should upload it with the first chapter because I'm not sure when I'll be uploading again, kind of busy nowadays…hope to here your opinions about the fic, thank you! I really love writing this one, I must admit, never wrote a Rikkai fic before so it's kind of new for me:p Hope you read and review!

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis but I do own the girl in the story:p

-- -- -- -- --

_Chapter 2: Unlikely Awakening_

The bell rang and all the students rush out of their rooms to eat their lunch. Yukimura was one of those people who left their room but for some other reason; as he made his way along the corridor, he was completely aware of the whispers and murmurs of the people he passed by, especially the girls. _'I should've known,'_ Yukimura told himself as he tries to keep his cool. He was not able to consider the consequences of his choice, now everyone in the school has been talking about him.

"Yukimura-buchuo!!" a voice called and a black and curly-haired sophomore was running towards him with a pink-haired one.

"Aka-chan, Marui," Yukimura greeted the two as he met them with his pleasant smile.

"Hey, buchuo, is it true? You already have a _girlfriend_?" Kirihara asked.

Yukimura widened his eyes at his kouhai's question, looking over Marui who just popped his bubblegum, and said, "Where in a world did you get that idea, Akaya?"

"Where?" Kirihara asked, blinking his eyes in confusion, "_Where?! _Everyone in the school is talking about it, buchou, and you're asking me where did I get that idea? You should start to learn to listen to the people around you, buchuo, you don't know maybe some people are saying nasty things about you."

"What's this? Our dear Aka-chan is lecturing our buchuo?" Niou cut through and stood beside Yukimura. "Tsk tsk tsk…you're being a bad influence, Aka-chan, teaching buchuo to be nosy, very shameful, isn't it, Yagyuu?"

"Shameful indeed," Yagyuu said as he approached them.

"So, buchuo, are you going to check on her?" Niou asked, turning to Yukimura.

"Hai," Yukimura answered.

"Nani?!" Kirihara and Marui exclaimed in chorus.

"So it's true that you really do have a girlfriend," Marui said, sighing, blowing another bubble.

"What does she look like?" Kirihara asked, looking at his buchuo intently.

Yukimura opened his mouth but could not get to answer, and somehow Niou saw this and came to his aid. "She looks _hot_, kiddo! Remember the girls in the magazine I brought here that you checked out?"

Kirihara nodded, blushing, remembering the day Niou mentioned.

"Yeah, just like them," Niou told him, grinning.

"Niou!" a deep and reprimanding voice called him, announcing Sanada's presence with Yanagi and Jackal behind him, joining their crowd.

"Hi, fukubuchuo, did you come to ask if buchuo already has a girlfriend too?" Niou said, paying no notice to Sanada's hard glare.

"Ah, gomen, but will you excuse me?" Yukimura cut in, making his way out of his teammates and went all the way down to the clinic, ignoring the people's gazes and loud murmuring. Finally, as he reached the clinic, he was glad about the quiet surroundings of the room. He quickly went over to the farthest bed where a girl is gently asleep. Sitting at a bed beside the girl, he unconsciously stares at her and noted her brown hair and fair complexion.

"So, she's the lucky girl, huh?" Marui's voice suddenly surfaced across the quiet room and it got Yukimura's heartbeat to speed up.

"Marui!" Yukimura called, jumping up from the bed.

"Gomen, buchuo, I didn't mean to scare you," Marui said, kneeling at the bed that Yukimura was sitting awhile ago.

"According to my data, you are unusually jumpy today, Seiichi," Yanagi said, scribbling at his notebook.

Yukimura widened his eyes at the comment, thinking, _'Me? Jumpy? Ridiculuous!'_

"Ne, Niou-senpai, she's not like those girls in the magazine," Kirihara said, kneeling beside Marui, "this girl looks smart and…what do you call that?" he added, thinking of the word he wanted to say, "Argh! She looks smart, period! She's not like those girls in the magazine, I bet she can't even pose for a picture like that, she looks decent…yes! That's it! She looks smart and decent!" he finished, looking at Niou who is raising an eyebrow at him.

Sighing, Marui popped a gum and turned to his kouhai, saying, "Honestly, you still believe every word he says…"

Smirking, Niou went in between the demon-child and Marui, putting his arms around the shoulders of the two, he looked at Kirihara, and said, "Look here, kiddo, you must learn that looks can be deceiving, really deceiving, I'm telling you, so there's a possibility that this girl –"

"Niou!" Sanada called in his reprimanding tone.

"Sanada, don't shout," Yukimura told his fukubuchuo and the trickster, the volley specialist and the demon-child sniggered. Suddenly, the girl began to stir, Yukimura quickly turned to her and so did everyone – except Sanada and Yagyuu. They cramped around the girl's bed and waited for her to open her eyes, and when she finally did, her vision was a blur for a moment and got blinded by the light. She closed her eyes again to clear them up and opened them again; the first person she saw was Yukimura, who was smiling gently at her and who asked, "Hey, how are you feeling?"

The girl stare at him for a moment before shifting her gaze to another side, she caught sight of the rest of the Rikkaidai's regulars and widened her eyes and quickly got up, exclaiming, "Who are you?! Where am I?"

"Relax, I'm Yukimura Seiichi, you're here in Rikkaidai," Yukimura quickly answered as Kirihara and Marui scampered away from the girl while the others just stepped back, surprised by the girl's outburst.

"What am I doing here? What did you do to me?!" the girl asked, accusingly.

"Nothing, I – we –" Yukimura tried to answer but could not find the right words that he should say because of shock, he did not expect that the girl will flare-up the moment she wakes up, what he thought was the girl will be calm about everything and will let him explain all the things that had happened, apparently, he was wrong. Unbeknownst to him, Yanagi has a small smile on his face as he jots down notes excitedly.

Niou stepped beside Yukimura and took the matters on his own hands, totally amused and slightly in disbelief that his buchuo got totally shaken up by the girl's yelling. "Ne, Hattori-san, it goes on like this –"

"You know my name?! How could you touch my things?!" the girl yelled in a much higher and louder tone.

"Look here, little lady," Niou began, in a much serious voice. He looked at the girl closely in the eyes, and said, "If you're thinking that we molested you, or worse, raped you, better stop it!"

"Niou," Yukimura called, pulling him away from the girl.

"Iie, buchuo," Niou said, not looking away, "her voice will get irritating sooner or later so it's best to shut her up at this point, and besides, we should make her listen to us – or most likely to you – so that we could stop those fantasies of hers."

"Ne, buchuo, Niou-senpai's right, we should at least make her stop yelling because she's beginning to look scary," Kirihara said, looking at the girl, "come to think of it, senpai-tachi, she looks familiar," he added, and everyone in the room turned to him.

"What do you mean, Aka-chan?" Marui asked, popping another bubble.

"I mean…that brown hair and those pair of very blue eyes remind me of…" Kirihara pointed out, widening his eyes and began screaming, and saying, "She just looks like Fuji Syusuke of Seigaku!" he said, running towards Jackal and Yanagi, hiding himself behind the two.

"Don't be ridiculous, Akaya," Jackal said, sighing, "maybe she does look like him but that doesn't mean they're the totally the same in every way."

Having enough of everything that is happening, Yukimura breathed deeply, and said, "Alright, enough of these, I'm going to sort this out so please will you leave the room for just a moment?" All of his players complied without any complains as they sense Yukimura's annoyance in his voice; he watched them as they made their way out the door of the clinic when he called one of them, "Niou."

The trickster turned to him with a curious face.

"Stay."

-- -- --

To be continued…

-- -- --


	3. Chapter 3

**All the Truth He Should Know**

-clavee-

-- -- -- -- --

Author's Notes: Hiya!! The third chapter's here, your reviews got me motivated, thanks so much!:D this is my first time to write a fic involving the whole Rikkai and I has fun. Well you might think that some characters are OOC but, hey, they're already in high school so let's just say that they changed in some ways or the other, hihi. Hope you read this and review!:D

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis.

-- -- -- -- --

_Chapter 3: Scenario Analysis_

Kirihara's eyed widened and his jaws dropped in disbelief as Niou walked back to Yukimura. Shaking his head, he followed his senpais out the clinic. He sat down beside Marui who is sitting at the corridor floor, and whined, "That's so unfair! How come Niou-senpai can stay inside and get the chance to see what's happening there?!"

"Apparently, though Seiichi does not openly admit it, he's not very good in dealing this kind of situation so he needed some assistance that only Masaharu can provide," Yanagi explained, closing his notebook.

"What are talking about Yanagi?" Jackal asked, confused, "Buchuo seems to be a person that can handle any kind of situation, what makes you say he's having a hard time on this one?"

Sighing, Yanagi began, "As it appears, Seiichi have never been caught in this type of setup, he doesn't have to deal with any woman before and, perhaps, he didn't prepared himself of what possible reaction that the girl will give initially when she wakes up," he said as his teammates listen carefully, "if I'm not mistaken, he just thought that the girl will wake up in a very calm manner and will ask where is she and who are we and those matters," he added, looking at each of them to see if they are catching up, and continued, "Seiichi overlooked the possibility that the girl will get shocked and may cause an outburst just like what happened minutes ago just as how he overlooked the possible consequences that might turn up when he brought that girl here in bridal style."

"My classmate said that buchuo arrived here at school with Niou-senpai, if you would look at it, I bet Niou-senpai let buchuo carry that girl all the way here just so he could get entertained," Kirihara said, thinking deeply.

"Wow! Will you look at that, our baby brat has finally matured," Marui commented, looking at his fellow seniors, "he finally learned how to put two things together, in other words, Aka-chan have learned how to do logic, _amazing_!"

"Why you –" Kirihara began, facing his sugar-freaked senpai, ready to strangle him.

"Stop! Don't you dare start any commotion or you will run laps for the whole practice," Sanada warned, glaring at the two on the floor.

"But Sanada, Marui's right, seeing as how Akaya analyzed that situation is a great improvement on his mental ability," Yanagi said, writing at his notebook again, "arigatou, Bunta, for pointing that out."

"No problem, also put to my data that my observation skills have also improved," Marui replied, grinning.

Rolling his eyes, Jackal turned to Yanagi, and asked, "But I still don't get it, in which area of the situation does buchuo need Niou's so-called _expertise_?"

"As we can see, there's a girl involve in this situation, and I bet that not only does Yukimura doesn't know how to handle the said setup because of a female presence but also he's just not good at dealing with girls or women in general," Yagyuu answered instead of Yanagi, shifting his glasses.

"That's correct, Hiroshi," Yanagi said, nodding, "the only women he used to dealing with is his mother and sister, and also his fan's club whom he just give smiles to while rejecting them, apparently, that girl's totally different from them."

"You've got a point there, Yagyuu-senpai, come to think of it, I haven't seen buchuo in any kind of situation where he have to deal with girl before, especially with that kind of girl, I bet you guys haven't too," Kirihara said, working his brains out to catch up with the whole conversation.

"Well…maybe if the girl didn't act like that way, buchuo could've handled everything very well, but now that you've pointed those out, perhaps buchuo was also as _shocked _as us when she started yelling," Marui added, blowing another bubble.

"So he needed Niou because he can take care of this kind of scenario?" Jackal asked.

"More like Niou can handle any kind of girls very well since, as we all know, he's undeniably an ultimate flirt," Yagyuu answered.

"Oh, so if this is only have something to do with dealing with girls then I could be a great help myself," Marui said, proudly.

"Well, maybe buchuo knew that too, Marui-senpai, he just didn't trust you enough, that's why," Kirihara retorted.

"Why you –" Marui quickly wrapped the sophomore around the neck and began to strangle him.

Sanada's eyebrow twitched and felt his headache turning into a major migraine.

-- -- --

Niou watch as Yukimura opened his mouth to speak but quickly closed it again for more than a several times since the others have left them alone, and he must admit that his amusement is starting to turn into annoyance as minutes pass by. He is itching to get the matters into his own hands but he knows that Yukimura wants him to stay out of it as much as possible, but he knows that his buchuo will ask for his help anytime soon so he stayed patient as he watch Yukimura stare at the ceiling, thinking of the right words he should say, and the girl, who is glaring at the two of them. _'Yanagi could be envying me now,' _Niou thought, thinking how the data maniac would be willing to do anything just to trade place with him.

"You know what, I'm leaving," the girl suddenly said, breaking Niou's chain of thoughts and Yukimura's mental speech practice.

"Nani? Don't you want to hear everything what happened?" Yukimura asked, unable to hide his nervousness.

"That's just plain stupid, Yukimura," Niou said, unable to control himself any longer, "this place have been quiet after the others left and, that's already been several minutes ago, she's been waiting for whatever you're going to say from that moment until now and you're asking her if she doesn't want to hear what happened?"

Yukimura, who have not been criticized of being "stupid" before, was thinking if he should make Niou run laps at that precise moment but thought that he has a point, he have wasted time contemplating on what he should say where he could have just explain everything like he usually does when he is asked to simply explain something. Breathing deeply, Yukimura began, "Gomen, I shouldn't have kept you waiting like that, I'm just not sure if I should talk or not because, I thought, you might get angry."

Niou closed his eyes and breathed deeply to keep himself from pulling his own hair in frustration while girl stared at Yukimura in confusion and disbelief. Thinking that he should not make the girl wait for his explanation, Yukimura began, "Well, you see, Hattori-san, I accidentally hit you with a tennis ball this morning at the nearby tennis park, you got unconscious, I brought you here with him," he said, pointing to Niou, "we could've brought you to a hospital but we can't afford to be late for our classes that's why here you are, I also thought that it might be better if you could've been attend to at once."

"I see, well, arigatou – not for hitting me with a ball but for bringing me here, I forgive you," Hattori said, simply, looking at Yukimura casually, "can I leave now?"

"Well, we'll ask the nurse for that," Yukimura answered, turning to Niou, and asked, "could you call the nurse?"

"No problem, buchuo," Niou agreed, leaving the two of them as he went to the office of the clinic.

Yukimura turned to Hattori, and asked, "If ever the nurse said you can leave, are you sure you would be alright? Aren't you feeling dizzy or anything? I mean, you don't look too well to me."

"I'm fine, alright? And if there's something else that's wrong with me, that has nothing to do with you," Hattori said, rolling her eyes.

Yukimura opened his mouth to reply but Niou came back, saying, "The nurse will be here any moment."

"Arigatou, Niou," Yukimura said, turning back to Hattori, "Hattori-san, if something happened to you, I'm afraid I'm liable for that, so if you're not capable of leaving then I would suggest that you stay here until someone pick you up."

"Pick me up?" Hattori repeated, inquiringly.

"Hai," Yukimura answered, trying not to be intimidated at the girl's tone, "I have your ID, I can call your school to inform them of what happened so that they could inform your parents and they could pick you up here, it's much safer than letting you go off alone."

Narrowing her eyes, Hattori said, "You know what, I'd rather let you rape me than let you do that."

Taken aback and confused, Yukimura asked, "Why is that?"

"Oh c'mon, Yukimura, it's obvious that she skipped school," Niou interrupted, "her parents thinks she's in school while the people in her school thinks she's just at home, if you call either the school or her parents, she'll be in trouble, I mean, what does a girl from Tokyo doing all the way here Kanagawa very early in the morning, think about it, buchuo."

"Tokyo? How did you know that she's from Tokyo?" Yukimura asked.

Annoyed at how Yukimura digs into such trivial things, he carefully explained, "Well, one, her uniform is quiet popular, she's from a prominent _international _school, I always get to see it when we go to Tokyo, and, two, I also caught a glimpse of her ID."

"Oh, I see…"

The nurse, then, finally arrived. Yukimura stepped back and let the nurse do the check up routine to Hattori. Niou looks at his captain and felt a bit sorry, thinking that Yukimura is feeling bad and stupid on how he handled the whole situation. Nudging Yukimura's elbow gently to get his attention, he whispered, "Gomen, I shouldn't have said the things I've said, I didn't mean to make you feel bad."

Smiling slightly, Yukimura looked at Niou at the corner of his eye, and said in a whisper too, "Don't be, I'm fine, it's alright."

_'That's unusual,'_ Niou thought, thinking that Yukimura should be fuming in rage by now.

"Yukimura-kun," the nurse turned to the two senior boys, "I think she's good to go but I don't think she should leave now, I mean, she looks pale and I don't think someone can get unconscious for half a day if that person is in good shape..."

"Oh, believe me, sensei, that's possible, the one who hit the ball was Yukimura so it's definitely possible," Niou said, grinning.

"Well, you might've a point there, Niou-kun, every person who goes to this school know what your buchuo can do," the nurse said, chuckling, and added, "but I suggest that Hattori-san should eat something first and someone should pick her up, there's a possibility that she might faint on the way if she leave alone."

"I appreciate your concern, sensei, but I think that won't be necessary, I can take care of myself," Hattori told her, persuasively.

"I also thought about that, sensei," Yukimura said, smirking at Hattori which made her annoyed, "but apparently, neither her school nor her parents know that she's here in Kanagawa so informing either one of them would definitely get her into trouble."

"I see, well if that's the case, you should stay here until afternoon," the nurse said, "that should explain why you're so pale, perhaps you have some huge problems, making you want to escape you're usual place and go here to think clearly, causing you to skip meals this morning or, most likely, last night as well."

"Whether I've a problem or not is none of your concerns, I believe," Hattori said, as politely as he could, "but I'm not a student of this school so I don't think that I should stay here any longer, it's inappropriate."

"Well, I can always tell the school administration that you were brought here by two boys because one of them accidentally hit you with a ball, making you faultless why you are here," the nurse told her, sweetly, "I'm going to tell them that they're students were just being responsible to make sure you're alright, and I, as a nurse, also have that kind of responsibility whether or not you're a student of this school or not because that's simply the reason why I'm a nurse."

Smiling, Hattori looked away, not knowing what to say. Knowing that the girl would not rest her case at once, Yukimura mustered all his courage and stepped back into the discussion, "Alright, here's the deal, if you want to leave this place all alone, wait until afternoon, but if you want to leave now, we'll call someone from your school to inform your parents so that someone can pick you up as soon as possible, what do you say?" he finished, feeling more confident in talking to her.

"I refused both," Hattori told him, looking directly in his eyes.

"Okay, then how about this, you can leave now but _I'm _going with you," Yukimura countered in a very serious, determined and dangerous tone.

-- -- --

To be continued…

-- -- --


	4. Chapter 4

**All the Truth He Should Know**

-clavee-

-- -- -- -- --

Author's Note: Hello guyz! Sorry for the very long delay…I've been busy lately. However, here's the next chapter! I'll upload the next one tomorrow, I feel so sleepy now and I could no longer get myself to type…this chapter may not seem to be important also most of them are OOC here but I hope you'll still like it, but there's something that is mentioned here that would be relevant throughout the whole story! Hihihi. Please read and review! Thank you!:D

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis.

-- -- -- -- --

_Chapter 4: Settling Matters_

Kirihara flung his arms around Marui when the door of the clinic burst open all of the sudden, totally shocked at the unexpected occurrence, while the others just watch as Niou and Yukimura walked by them, not bothering to pay them any attention.

"Yukimura, you can't just do that!" Niou yelled at his buchuo, pulling him hard on his left elbow, not caring if he will get punished with million laps for it. Yukimura turned to him with the sharpest glare he could give but Niou tried his best not to flinch with the sight that can cause his very death, instead, he matched it with a hardest look he could muster. However, Yukimura just turned away from him and freed himself from Niou's grip, resuming his walk. Niou's jaw dropped and thought, _'Damn! Never thought how bad it is when you get so stubborn!'_

Not wanting to give up, Niou ran towards Yukimura and blocked his path with the others following behind, completely intrigued at what is happening.

"Get out of my way, Niou," Yukimura ordered, looking directly at him.

"Iie, listen to me," Niou replied in his most commanding tone, "you can't just do this, you're being carried away so _calm down _first before doing anything."

"I've remained calm enough, I believe," Yukimura told him, crossing his arms across his chest, "the decision I made is final and it's not something that I made irrationally."

"Oh really now, calm enough? _You_?" Niou repeated, mockingly, "You were completely shaken up by her that's why you're being like this! You're acting irrationally and you know it, in case you don't know what's working on you right now, its called _ego_, Yukimura! Ego!" he exclaimed, pointing a finger at Yukimura's forehead, taking advantage of the courage that he suddenly got that moment.

Yukimura widened his eyes, and yelled back, "What the hell are you talking about?! I'm not shaken up by her nor by anybody and neither am I being egoistical!"

"Seiichi, calm down, this is not like you," Yanagi stepped into the argument before Niou could say any truthful facts that can make Yukimura even more mad.

"See, even Yanagi said you're not being yourself," Niou told Yukimura.

Yukimura, then, glared at Yanagi who held his breath as much as he could.

"Ne, Niou, what's going on?" Marui asked, standing beside Niou, making sure he distanced himself from their infuriated buchuo.

"Yukimura, here, wants to accompany that girl on her way home because she's still not that well but is stubbornly insisting to leave," Niou began, not looking away from Yukimura, "and he doesn't want her to leave without any company that's why he presented himself, they're leaving _now_."

"Nani?!" Kirihara, Marui and Jackal chorused.

"You really couldn't just to that, Yukimura," Jackal repeated Niou's first words when he got out of the clinic.

"Hai," Kirihara agreed, "the school won't allow you just like this."

"If the girl wants to leave alone, let her be," Marui told his buchuo, forgetting how scared he was of him, "not all girls are meant to be pampered, you know."

Yukimura quickly shifter his death glare to the other three and all of them held their breath at the sight. He breathed deeply, and said, "Whatever I do doesn't concern you, and so would you just leave me alone and let me do what I said I'll do?"

"Honestly, listen to yourself," Hattori has finally got out of the clinic and is standing behind them, her right arm on the waist and looking at Yukimura with a raised eyebrow, "if you want them to do what you just said then why don't you just do what I told you and that is the same thing that you told them: if there's something else wrong with me, that has nothing to do with you so just let me leave this place _on my own_."

Yukimura was about to answer back when the building's public announcement system began saying, _"Yukimura Seiichi-san of III-1, please proceed to the Principal's Office, I repeat…"_

"Did they already found out what's he's planning to do?" Kirihara whispered to Marui who is staring intently at Yukimura.

"Yukimura, go ahead, we'll take care of this," Sanada told his friend, noticing that Yukimura was reluctant to leave, "she would still be here after you come back from the office."

"Sanada…" Yukimura turned to his fukubuchuo and gave an unnoticeable smile before turning to Hattori, "you're ID's still with me, if you dare leave alone I'll call both your school and family."

"Fine," Hattori snapped, leaning at the wall and looking away from him.

Yukimura smirked and turned to his team, and said, "Take her to the cafeteria, she have to eat some lunch…I'll pay back the money to whoever will spend so don't worry, if she couldn't take any heavy food, buy her a soup enough to make her full."

"Hai," Kirihara, Marui and Jackal answered while Sanada, Yagyuu and Yanagi just nodded, Niou, on the other hand, just shrugged.

Content with the answers of his team, Yukimura left them as he made his way to the Principal's Office.

Sighing, Niou said, "How stubborn could he get?"

-- -- --

The Rikkai high school men's tennis club regulars – minus Yukimura – sat at a long cafeteria table and watch Hattori eat her lunch. Marui and Kirihara bought their own lunch, too, enough to feed the seven of them on the table that is watching over Hattori. Niou was the only one who talked to her into complying with Yukimura's orders, not that she has any choice to object; Marui, Kirihara and Jackal were too scared to even look at her while Yagyuu, Yanagi and Sanada were all scarce for words to say to her. Their table was so quiet, Niou is not in the mood to talk and joke around while the other two loudmouths – a.k.a. Marui Bunta and Kirihara Akaya – are too busy feeding their grumbling stomachs and Niou noticed that they are trying to eat as quietly as possible and wished that they could just eat normally like they should.

Unable to take the silence anymore, Hattori, herself, took the initiative to begin a conversation. "That Yukimura, he's really persistent, is he?" she asked, looking over Niou and Sanada who are both sitting to her left and right.

The boys stared at one another asking each other the same question mentally: _Should we answer?_ Hattori smirked; amused at the boys she is with. Sighing, she said, "If you don't want to answer, it's okay…I just want some sort of conversation it's getting stuffy in here with the tight atmosphere…"

"You only regard that as persistence?" Yanagi asked, scribbling on his notebook.

"I call that _stubbornness_," Niou said, looking at Hattori.

"Don't get me wrong, I just don't want to sound unpleasant," Hattori told them, finishing her meal, "you seem to respect him so much, who knows what you'll do to me if I start saying negative words about him."

At that moment, Yukimura arrived with all his things. He approached them and checked on them one by one and see that they are all turned to him, and began, "Okaasan called the principal awhile ago and asked him if the school could excuse me for the rest of the day, she's set to go somewhere urgently that's why she needs me to go to the hospital my cousin is confined to so I could watch over her."

Hattori slightly smiled.

"Don't get your spirits too high, Hattori-san," Marui told her after taking a huge bite from his burger, "Yukimura-buchuo's cousin is confined in a hospital in Tokyo so that means he has now a valid excuse to leave school with you."

Hattori rolled her eyes and stood up, saying, "Let's go, I can't stay here anymore."

"Wait," Yukimura called, and asked his teammates, "who paid for –"

"I did," Hattori cut in and Yukimura turned to her, "Why? Can't _I _pay for my own food?" she asked, walking towards Yukimura, "I can't leave this place alone and now I can't pay for my own food? Just who do you think you are? We haven't known each other for 24 hours yet but you're already acting worse than a _boyfriend_."

Yukimura held his breath as he shifted his gaze, aware of the blush forming on his cheeks. Niou, Marui and Kirihara could not help but snigger while Yanagi scribbled on his notebook as if there is no more tomorrow and the rest, even Sanada, stared at Yukimura. Relieving himself from amusement, Niou came to Yukimura's aid, saying, "I think the two of you should get going, you're mom might not leave your cousin until you arrive, don't keep her waiting."

"Ha-Hai," Yukimura stammered, turning towards the exit of the cafeteria, unconsciously taking Hattori's hand with his.

Sure enough, no one missed that gesture and all of them widened their eyes in surprise. Niou took a deep breath while Marui and Kirihara bit their lower lip as much as they could to keep themselves from laughing; Yanagi just kept on writing on his notebook page after page while Sanada just closed his eyes; lastly, Yagyuu smirked and adjusted his glasses, and thought, _'Interesting…' _while Jackal just watched Yukimura and the Hattori leave the cafeteria.

When Yukimura and Hattori were finally out of earshot, Niou hollered, "Have a nice date!"

With that, Marui and Kirihara burst out laughing, and Yanagi said, "Who would've thought that Seiichi could be very possessive?"

-- -- --

"You know what," Hattori began, walking hand in hand with Yukimura out of the building, "you can let go of my hand, I can walk by myself, you know."

Yukimura stopped dead on his tracks and looked at his right hand that is holding Hattori's left hand; still unaware, until that moment, that he was holding her hand. He looked up at Hattori who is raising an eyebrow at him again and quickly let go of her hand.

"Gomen," Yukimura said, looking away and resuming his walk, "let's go."

Smirking in amusement, Hattori followed Yukimura all the way out of the grounds of Rikkaidai, thinking to herself, _'Maybe this trip won't be that bad…'_

-- -- --

To be continued…

-- -- --


	5. Chapter 5

**All the Truth He Should Know**

-clavee-  
-- -- -- -- --

Author's note: Here's the next chapter! Did I live up to the promised (to upload this "tomorrow" after the last chapter)? I lost the track of time…anyway, nothing much will happen here, only that Yukimura will do some bits of reflecting here, too bad our lovable Rikkai boys are not here, is it getting a bit dragging? Sorry if it is, don't worry after this chapter will be a new one! (okay, that's really corny! Goodness!) but on the next chapter, I'll get things going so hope you watch out for that…but still, I hope you'll like this chapter! Please read and review!:D

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis but Izumi-chan and the new character, Kiyoko-chan are both my made up characters.:D

-- -- -- -- --

_Chapter 5: __Tokyo__ Trip_

"Hattori-san," Yukimura called, attempting to wake up the sleeping girl that has her head on his right shoulder. They are about to get off the bus they are in and Hattori have been sleeping ten minutes after they got on the bus. "Hattori-san," he called again, not making any progress, but at that moment, Hattori slowly opened her eyes and looked up at Yukimura. Looking away, Yukimura tried to stop himself from blushing, and said, "We're about to get off…"

"Oh," was all Hattori could say, she looked out the window to see the all the familiar establishments – they really are in Tokyo.

The bus came to a stop and Yukimura stood up without any notice causing for Hattori to be almost left behind if not for the sudden disappearance of the slight warmth on her left. Hattori followed him on the way out the bus; Yukimura was already waiting for her on the sidewalk when he saw that Hattori missed a step on the bus' stairs, thanks to his fast tennis reflexes, he was able to catch her in time – she clung unto his shoulders while he supported her with his hands on her waist.

"Are you alright?" Yukimura asked as the bus finally left, helping Hattori to her feet.

Hattori leaned on him unintentionally, a hand on her forehead, and answered, "I-I fine."

Yukimura frowned, and said, "You're not fine, is there something wrong?"

Straightening herself up, she gave a sharp glare at Yukimura, and replied, "I said I'm fine, I just got a bit dizzy, that's all."

"If that's what you say," he said, dropping the matter in hand, and asked, "so, how do we go to your house?"

"Nani?" Hattori asked, confused.

"How do we go to your house?" Yukimura repeated.

"There's no need to accompany me all the way there, I can go home from here on my own," she told him, "and besides, you should get going too."

Yukimura smirked, and said, "Do you really expect me to believe that? You almost fell off the bus."

"It's not as if it's going to happen again," Hattori snapped, irritated.

"Look, if I were you, just listen to me: you're not fine," he pointed out as clear as he could, "and also, to remind you, you're ID's still with me and if you want it back, stop your stubbornness."

She widened her eyes, and snapped back, "Me? _Stubborn_?! Look who's talking! You're the one who's been stubborn all this time!"

"I don't care what you say," Yukimura told her, shrugging her off, "now, let's go to your house, I'll accompany you all the way there."

Defeated, Hattori hailed a taxi cab and went inside the backseat, annoyed, leaving the door open for Yukimura. Smirking at his win, Yukimura also went inside the taxi.

-- -- --

Yukimura and Hattori got off the taxi as they arrived at a sophisticated mansion. Hattori let Yukimura for the taxi fare without any argument as she finally got tired of talking back at him, the whole trip, though short, was spent in silence. Yukimura stare at the mansion, surprised and thought that if Niou was with them, he will probably say, _"Duh, buchuo! She's studying in an international school, for sure she's rich!"_ He smiled at the thought and felt as if he owes the trickster something.

"Let's go inside," Hattori said, walking towards the small gate.

"Iie, I'll go ahead now," Yukimura said, smiling at her.

"Are you sure? The house is huge, my bedroom is still far, I might faint on the way there," she said, crossing her arms across her chest.

Yukimura got the hint of sarcasm in her voice and felt guilty for making her annoyed. He, then, fished out an ID from his pocket and held it to Hattori, saying, "I just want to make sure you got home alright, I didn't do this to amuse myself or anything, I'm just really worried, gomen."

Hattori took her ID from him and felt all the irritation she has been feeling towards him vanished. Looking away, she asked, "Is the hospital you're going to be far? I could ask someone to drop you there."

Smiling at the offer, Yukimura said, "There's no need, the hospital is just near enough, I saw it while we're in the taxi, I can walk from here."

"If that's what you say," Hattori said, not pushing the matter, "arigatou."

"You're welcome," he replied, turning back to start walking.

-- -- --

Yukimura got to the hospital in less that five minutes, he even manage to stop by a convenient store to buy some food for himself and his mother. He went straight to the room where his cousin, Aizawa Kiyoko, was confined. The girl is in coma ever since February that year due to intoxication when she attempted to kill herself by overdosing the antidepressants prescribed to her; she left her school to take some time off due to some circumstances which caused her a huge amount of depression.

Aizawa was an only child, her mother died when she was five due to brain cancer and her father died in a construction accident during her last year in junior high. Ever since then, she was living with the Yukimuras but still decided to study in her old school in Tokyo for her high school. She lived in an apartment and Yukimura visited her once a week or when his team has a match on the city; Aizawa is a year younger than him and he treated her as another younger sister.

"Konnichiwa, Kiyoko-chan," Yukimura greeted as he got the sight of his cousin and frowned as he saw all the life supports that surrounds her to keep her from dying. He set the foods he bought on the table across the bed and saw a note written by his mother saying: _I'll be back before __6:00PM__, please don't leave until then. Gomen. – Okaasan._

Smiling, Yukimura pulled the nearby chair and sat beside Aizawa. He stared at the girl's face and brushed away the hair that is slightly covering it and frowned deeply as he observed his cousin's long black hair that does not go well with her pale face.

"Ne, Kiyoko-chan, it's been an interesting day for me, you want to know why?" he began and suddenly feeling stupid at what he just said, knowing that his cousin would not be able to answer back, shrugging that fact, he continued, "I accidentally hit a girl with a tennis ball this morning while I was practicing at a street tennis court near my school, I got panic in a way, I really didn't know what to do…" he paused, recalling the turn of events that morning, "good thing one of my teammates, Niou, arrived and helped me to take care of her…we brought her to our school clinic since the nearby hospital is not that near," he added, chuckling.

"Niou carried our things while I carry her all the way to the school clinic, it was _very _embarrassing, all the people were looking my way and various rumors started, it kind of gave me a headache," he went on, blushing lightly, feeling slightly good that his cousin is not awake that moment or else the said girl will start her endless teasing, "I checked back on her during lunch time…believe me, that lunch time was the longest lunch time I've ever had in my student life…she woke up and started shouting at us, all of my fellow regulars are with me that time, and all of us were really shocked," he said, laughing as he remember how it all happen.

"I made all of them get out, except for Niou," he continued, "I hate to admit it but I was totally intimidated by her, I never thought she would wake up like that and I never imagined a girl could appear that tough," he added, recalling the way Hattori looked at them with her sharp blue eyes, "all the girls I interacted to in school are always nice, I mean, they always smile at me and such, sometimes they acted suddenly nervous and got clumsy when I talk to them, I find it annoying to tell you the truth," he told her, not caring if she's listening to him in her deep slumber or not, so he went on, "she's really different, unfortunately, I was ticked and maybe Niou was right…"

"She insisted on leaving the school at that moment but I don't want her to leave on her own so I told her that I'll contact her parents but Niou said that the girl skipped school and doing such will cause her trouble," he explained, leaning back on the chair he is sitting and stare up at the hospital room's ceiling, "being a good student I believed that she deserves to be reprimanded by her parents about what she did but I used that to my advantage instead, I told her that I'll accompany her all the way here in Tokyo – her house is just near, by the way," he added, straightening his posture, "I know I couldn't just do that, Niou tried stopped me and said that I'm being irrational because I felt belittled by her so I want to show that she can't just push me around like that, I tried to deny it but, yeah, just like Niou said, I've been overcome by my ego."

Feeling tired sitting on the chain, he stood up and walked to the opened window, continuing his story, "Good thing, okaasan called the school and excused me for the rest of the day that's why I was able to get everything on my way…but you know what, she's not that bad, somehow she accepted the fact that she could not do anything about it anymore…she even said that I'm acting worse than a boyfriend should, I was really embarrassed…I unconsciously took her by the hand when we left the others," he said, laughing, "I never really imagined being a boyfriend, only tennis has been the thing that's been on my mind ever since who-knows-when, so that really got me thinking…"

Frowning, he turned to look at his unconscious cousin hoping he could see the look of disappointment on his face, and said, "I wish I could see her again, she's different from all the girls I came across with outside the family…she's tough and straightforward, she says all the things that she wants to say and always keep a straight face when she say the things that she really wanted to happen, well she have this slight problem in changing her approach though, like when I apologized to her by using her ID in getting what I want, she looked away and started acting nice, I find it amusing though…"

Sighing, he sat back again on the chair and kept on talking, "In just those short hours arguing with her somehow have her grown on me, I feel like as if I'm going to miss her now that there's no assurance that we might see each other again…I bet she won't be bother by it, she seems to be so determine to get rid of me," he said, chuckling at the thought, "and you know what, there's another thing, when we were finally in front of her house or should I say mansion?" he added, laughing, "her house was huge…anyway, when we were finally there and I watched her walk towards their gate, I felt as if the reason why I insisted on accompanying her on her way home because I want to stay around her for a bit longer…I was unaware how excited I was when the lunch bell rang…" he reminisced everything how he felt moments ago, and looked up at the ceiling, smiling, "I find her pretty…her slightly long brown hair and her blue eyes that shot several glares at me…she's pretty interesting too…oh, I haven't told you her name, her name is _Hattori Izumi_."

-- -- --

To be continued…

-- -- --


	6. Chapter 6

**All the Truth He Should Know**

-clavee-

-- -- -- -- --

Author's note: Sorrrryyyyyy!! I know I shouldn't get you guys waiting but I just got really busy because of my job – I'm a part-time research writer, you see, and most of the papers I write are from US and since they just finished their school year a recently, I was flooded with a lot of papers lazy people!, anyway, enough explanation. I know just a chapter or two won't be enough to make up for my long absence but I'll just make sure to be able to update as fast as I could…sorry, again…anyway, here's the next chapter that all of you've been waiting for!:D more OOC-ness, btw…hope you'll still read it and review it!:D

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis, but I do own the girls in this story:p

-- -- -- -- --

_Chapter 6: Unexpected Meeting_

The rest of the day seemed to have just went unnoticed to her, but that is not something new to her since she really do not care about school ever since. Hattori absently went to her school's Music Room that typical afternoon and sat at the piano at the front, she opened the lid of the piano and looked around the empty and tidy room around her and suddenly felt angry about it. Without a tune in mind, she angrily pounced on the piano keys producing an ear-breaking sound.

"That won't bring anything back, Hattori-san," a voice said and Hattori stopped at once and looked at the girl with a very long, black hair and dark brown eyes that is standing at the door.

"Shizuko, what are you doing here?" Hattori asked, looking away from her again.

Hira Shizuko walked inside and stood in front of Hattori, and said, "I know you're older than me but you are acting _way _childish than any of your kouhais."

"Did Chikako send you to look for me just so you could give me her lectures?" Hattori retorted, irritatingly.

"Iie, what I said is just based on my own judgment," Hira answered, flatly, "Nee-chan has nothing to do with it although she did send me to look for you, she's with Takano-san, waiting in your classroom."

"I see…" Hattori muttered, feeling the piano keys with her fingers, gently.

"It's been half a year already, Hattori-san, shouldn't you be over by that now?" Hira asked, crossing her arms across her chest.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Hattori answered, not looking at her.

"Of course, you do," Hira snapped at her senpai, putting any sign of respect aside, "I know that you totally know that I'm talking about _you _and _her_, why do you always avoid this? Nee-chan and Takano-san would always try to get you to talk to them about this because they want to help you but you always shut them out."

Hattori glared at Hira, and said, "So, do you think that if you're the one who's going to talk to me, I'll talk to you about everything?"

Hira bit her lower lip in annoyance, and snapped back, "I won't waste my time over someone like you but I care about my sister and she's getting all worked up because she wants you to feel better. You were not like this before, Hattori-san –"

"Why?! Do you _know _me?" Hattori answered back, standing up from the piano chair, "You don't even know everything that had happened and more so would you understand it, so don't you dare talk to me as if you know everything!"

"Hai, that's true, I don't know the whole story but I know what basically happened, you're also right, I won't be able to understand it because everything was _irrational _and _illogical _to me," Hira said, unshaken by her senpai's outburst, "to me, you _were _stupid…until now, you're _still _being stupid…are you just going to be like this forever? She chose to leave you because she knows that's for the best, are you still waiting for her to come back? Why can't you just let it go and _stop _fooling around?"

Hattori clenched her fist tightly as she stared hard at Hira, and said in a very low voice, "You really don't understand anything because if you do, you would know why it's hard to do everything that you are saying."

Hira stare at her, indifferently, but could not help but to be surprised when she saw couple of tears fall from her senpai's eyes. Without any other word, Hattori turned to leave the room. Hira, then, spoke, "Hattori-san, just let it go…I may not understand how hard it is but a lot of your time have already been wasted, you'll never know…but there might be some new people who are willing to color your life in a same yet still different manner that she did."

_'New people?'_Hattori asked herself and saw several faces she saw the day before flashed inside her mind, focusing on a certain feminine-looking guy that totally ticked her off, smiling a little, she shook her head, thinking, _'Impossible…'_

-- -- --

Hattori walked back to her classroom which was now empty except for two girls – one of them, Hira Chikako, has a black hair that did not reached her shoulders and was sitting at her chair while the other, Takano Miyuki, was tying her brown hair in a half-ponytail as she sat on one of the desks. Sighing at the sight of her two best friends, she entered the room as if they were not there.

"Where have you been? Did Shizuko found you?" the older Hira asked, watching her approach.

"She did alright," Hattori snapped, arranging her things.

"Ne, Chikako, she seems to be mad at something, maybe Shizuko-chan annoyed her again," Takano said, straightening up, "you do know that they both hate each other's guts, right?"

"Is Miyuki right? Did my sister piss you off again?" Hira asked, amused.

Hattori glared at Hira, knowing what the present look on her face means. "Did you just wait here to know what happened between me and your sister when you sent her to look for me?"

"Of course not, Izumi," Hira protested, pouting, "we're here because Miyuki has something in store for us this coming Saturday."

Sighing, Hattori turned to Takano, and asked, "What is it this time?"

"This Saturday is the start of the kantou tournament!" Tanako exclaimed, excitedly.

"Are we talking about tennis again?" Hattori asked, remembering the tennis ball incident she got into the day before.

"Of course, what else, Izumi?" Takano answered, smiling brightly.

Sighing once again, she said, "You two just go ahead, I'm sick and tired of that game."

"Ne, ne, Izumi, that's not funny," Hira said, taunting, "you only got to watch a couple of games –"

"Yup, I did have a chance to watch a couple of games, a couple of _boring_ games," Hattori cut in.

"Some were boring, I must admit, but there were ones that I think are really good," Hira said, recalling the games that they have watched, "but Miyuki said that it'll be different now since it's the kantou, a step closer to the nationals, so I think it'll be definitely worth watching."

Shaking her head, she carried her things and turned to leave the room, muttering, "Whatever."

"It's set then, Izumi!" Takano exclaimed at the corridor as she ran after Hattori.

-- -- --

Feeling as if she could already kill someone, Hattori walked alongside Hira as they went to another tennis match. There were several games that are being played and Takano insisted to watch the game where there were the most people. Honestly speaking, the reason she hated coming to tennis matches is that Takano would just spend most of the time flirting with the tennis players and she hates it even more as she sees Hira not being annoyed by it.

"Just let her be," Hira told her as they followed Takano down the bleachers where she managed to find some empty spaces for the three of them.

Hattori just shrugged as she sat down at the bleachers, looking over her right side where the team that was playing over that side was wearing grey and white uniforms.

"Ne, we should've went here first after all," Tanako, who was sitting next to Hattori, said, as she looked over the direction Hattori was looking at, "it's Hyotei High, no wonder there were a lot of people here."

Shaking her head, Hattori looked away from Hyotei High, she knows the school so well and she does not like them. "What so special about them anyway?" she asked, "they're just bunch of airheads who just happen to have a lot of money."

"Ne, Izumi, don't be like that," Tanako told her, frowning, "there are some of them that are intellectual enough, want me to introduce you to them?"

"Shut up," Hattori snapped at her and stood up.

"Where are you going?" Hira asked.

"Going to get some drink, if you want I'll get some for you too," Hattori answered.

"I see…"

"WATCH OUT!!" a deep voice shouted towards the direction of the three girls. Hira, Takano and Hattori turned to the direction of the voice and in a quick flash a guy wearing a yellow jersey came running up the bleachers with a racquet in his hand, hitting a ball that was about to hit Hattori.

"YO, BRAT! WATCH WHERE YOU'RE HITTING THE BALL, YOU CAN KILL SOMEONE, YOU KNOW!" the guy bellowed to the one playing at the court, who caught the ball, "WE HAVE ENOUGH BALL-HITTING ACCIDENTS IN A WEEK AND WE SHOULDN'T BE KNOW FOR IT!"

"SHUT UP, NIOU-SENPAI! WE ONLY HAD ONE AND IT WAS NOT DONE BY ME, IT WAS YU –"

"Akaya," a calm but firm voice cut him from his hollering.

"Go-gomen, buchuo," Kirihara muttered, walking back into the match.

"That was close," Niou said, turning to the girl that was almost hit, "are you al–?" Niou widened his eyes at the sight in front of him, "You!"

Hattori looked away, thinking, _'WHAT THE HELL?!'_

Smirking, Niou turned to his buchuo below, and yelled, "NE, BUCHUO! YOUR GIRLFRIEND'S HERE!"

Yukimura, as well as everyone in the venue, quickly turned to Niou and Hattori. Freezing at his seat at the coach's bench, he felt as if his face heated up, thinking that everybody was staring at him as well.

"Ne, buchuo, it's really Hattori-san," Kirihara told him as he stare up to the girl beside Niou.

"Ne, Izumi, you didn't mention that you're dating," Hira said, teasingly, looking over Tanako.

"Yeah, you're really something, Izumi," Tanako joined in, "imagine that, you got their tennis buchuo as your boyfriend."

"Shut it!" Hattori snapped.

"Niou!" Sanada called, standing from the lowest bleachers and looking up at him with his hard glares.

"Hai, hai, fuku-buchuo," Niou answered back, grinning at the stunned Yukimura at the bench before turning to the girls, saying, "hey, why don't you girls sit there just behind us, there's still space there, you know."

"Really? We could?" Tanako asked, excitedly.

"Of course," Niou replied, deepening his voice and making Tanako blush.

Niou, then, led the three girls down the bleachers despite Hattori's reluctance. Yukimura watched them and felt a rare but huge migraine coming to him. He turned back to the court, trying to focus his attention on the match at hand to forget about what is happening, never had he have been this embarrassed before. _'You're really going to get it, Niou,'_ he thought.

"Akaya, beat him or you're going to run 300 laps!" Yukimura commanded his kouhai.

"Hai, buchuo!" Kirihara replied, thinking, _'This is all your fault, Niou-senpai!'_

-- -- -- -- --

To be continued…

-- -- -- -- --


	7. Chapter 7

**All the Truth He Should Know**

-clavee-

-- -- -- -- --

Author's Note: As I promised, I would update as soon as I can! Yay! School year in our country just started but we still don't have much to do so I think I'll make the most of it (also, I have no job assignments for now). Now, the real story begins! Hihihi. Please read and review! :D

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of TennisL

-- -- -- -- --

_Chapter 7: Linked Together_

Kirihara walked towards Yukimura, trembling and scared of being hit by his dear buchuo after being defeated by Hiyoshi Wakashi, 7 games to 5. It was an unexpected loss since he was still leading by 2 games and was about to win his 6th game when he sent the ball flying to the bleachers, enabling Niou to pull out his usual sadism. He gulped and bowed down to Yukimura, waiting for the upcoming blow, however, Yukimura just stood up and took off his jacket, saying, "Go back to the team, I'm sparing you for now but you're still to do the 300 laps."

Feeling a bit happy, Kirihara straightened up with a wide smile on his face, and said, "Arigatou, buchuo!" He, then, ran back to his teammates who were all surprised at their buchuo's actions.

"Well, you better thank Hattori-san over here," Niou commented to Kirihara but loud enough for Yukimura to hear, smirking, "maybe Yukimura-buchuo doesn't want Hattori-san see him being mean and all."

Hattori clenched her fists as she felt her patience ran down while Yukimura rolled his eyes as he headed to the courts to play Singles 1. If only Marui and Jackal did not lost to Hyotei's Shishido and Ohtori, and if only Kirihara did not get pressured by his dear buchuo, they would have won already. Cursing himself for pressuring Kirihara, Yukimura turned to his opponent who was already standing by the net.

"Saa…Yukimura, I must admit I'm _utterly _surprised that you got yourself a girlfriend," Atobe said, smirking, "perhaps the saying is really true, _'Behind every great man is a great woman'_."

"Shut it, Atobe," Yukimura said, trying not to roll his eyes again.

After deciding who is going to serve first, Yukimura and Atobe walked towards the far end of each other's courts.

"Singles 1: Hyotei's Atobe Keigo vs. Rikkaidai's Yukimura Seiichi; Atobe to serve!" the referee announced and Atobe hit his first serve which Yukimura returned with ease.

Yukimura took the first three games without any difficulties, everyone watching were all quiet and completely focused on the game at hand. Even Hattori found herself watching the game very intently, she knew that Yukimura was the buchuo but she did not expect him to be this good. Hira noticed Hattori's intent gaze on the guy wearing a yellow jersey and nudged Takano, who was staring dreamily at Niou, to point at Hattori. Pouting at being disturbed by Hira, Takano turned to her right to see that Hattori was indeed watching yellow-clad lad on the courts.

Smirking, Takano leaned over to Hattori, and whispered, "He's really good looking, huh?"

Hattori felt chills running down her spine and turned to Takano sharply, and hissed, "_What are you talking about?!_"

Grinning, Takano turned to Hira, who was smiling a knowing smile. Takano, then, turned back to Hattori, and said as silently as she could, "Don't stare so hard, they need him to win no matter what, you know."

"Oh, shut up," Hattori snapped.

"Game to Atobe; 2 games to 3!" the referee called out. Hattori, then, quickly turned back into the game.

"Ne, Atobe-san was quite good, eh," Kirihara commented, "that Insight thing of his."

"Well, it just proves that he's not all talk," Yanagi said, notebook in hand, "but it seems that Atobe have grown less arrogant these days so it should be expected that he had improved a lot."

"Even better than buchuo?" Kirihara asked, worried.

"We can't exactly say that Akaya," Yanagi answered, "this is the first time Seiichi played against him."

Hattori was horrorstricken at what the other boys were talking about and looked over Yukimura, who was panting at that moment already. Moments later, Atobe had already won another two games from Yukimura. Cursing at the sudden change of momentum, Yukimura prepared to return Atobe's upcoming serve.

"Yukimura-buchuo could not seem to return Atobe's shots," Marui commented, seeing as how the game went on, "that Koori no Sekai of his is really effective, making buchuo unable to use his Creeping Shadow."

Yanagi turned to Marui, and said, "Your observation skills do improved a lot, Bunta."

Niou shook his head at that, feeling as if their self-proclaimed tensai is starting to get too full of himself. He, then, turned to the three girls he invited to sit near them and noticed that Takano was staring at him dreamily and that Hattori was anxiously watching the match as Atobe only needs one more ball to get another point that would cause Yukimura to be behind for three points. Smirking, he turned to the game and watched as Yukimura failed to return another of Atobe's shot which landed exactly at his so-called blind spot.

Atobe and Yukimura exchanged courts and it was the Rikkai's buchuo's turn to serve. He bounced the ball to the ground as he surveyed Atobe's court, analyzing which part should he his serve when –

"NE, BUCHUO! GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF! YOU'RE MAKING HATTORI-SAN WORRIED!" Niou bellowed.

Yukimura's eyes widened in utmost annoyance as he saw Niou standing at the highest bleachers, waving and smirking all at the same time. _'What the hell are you doing?!' _he asked himself, gripping the tennis ball tightly in his hands.

Hattori also got to her feet and was about to storm towards Niou when Takano stopped her from doing so, saying, "Calm down, Izumi, you're going to cause a scandal."

"I don't care Miyuki, I've already had enough of him," Hattori said, trying to free herself from Takano's grasps.

"Niou!" Sanada called sternly, "Come back here now!"

"Hai, hai, fukubuchuo," Niou complied, looking back to Yukimura who still has shock written all over her face, and shouted again, "DO YOUR BEST, BUCHUO!"

Yukimura feels as if he was going to faint at that moment as he hear people started to talk about him again. _'You'll definitely pay for this, Niou!'_ Yukimura swore to himself. Yukimura, then, regained his concentration on the game at hand, but giving a quick glance on the bleachers to see Hattori was watching him intently as if she is really expecting for him to win. Focusing at Atobe, who is anticipating his serve with a smirk on his face, Yukimura bounced the ball for another three times and took a heavy breath before holding the ball before him and spinning it. Atobe's and the rest of Hyotei and Rikkai player's eyes, then, widened as Yukimura hit a very unusual serve.

"Ne, that's Fuji Syusuke's Disappearing Serve!" Kirihara and Akutagawa both exclaimed in chorus.

Atobe quickly reacted when the ball was launch to catch it right before it disappears. Luckily enough, he was able to strike it back to Yukimura.

"He's using Muga no Kyouchi," Yagyuu said, awed.

Yukimura returned Atobe's shot, preparing for his next attack. Using his Koori no Sekai, Atobe tried his best not be shaken by the though that Yukimura is now using Muga no Kyouchi as he found a possible blind spot and hit the ball with unbelievable precision only to see that the ball turned towards Yukimura. Atobe gasped, and said, "It can't be!"

"I see…" Yanagi suddenly said, "he used Muga no Kyouchi to counter Atobe's Koori no Sekai."

"How is that effective Yanagi-senpai?" Kirihara asked, confused.

"Don't you see, Akaya?" Jackal said, watching intently the game before them, "With Muga no Kyouchi, Yukimura-buchuo will be able to use Tezuka's Zone to enable him to return all Atobe's shot, if that work, he will be able to use his Creeping Shadow."

Kirihara tried to analyze what his senpai said, and suddenly smiled, exclaiming, "Buchuo! You're really the best!"

Throughout the course of the game, Yukimura really did what Jackal had thought he will do. He tied the game to 5 and is not willing to go to a tie breaker. Atobe lost his sense of touch and sight, Yukimura did not see any point in doing it totally since he is near to winning the game. Yukimura, then, won 7 games to 5. Atobe was sweating and panting very hard when they met at the net to shake hands.

"Are you alright?" Yukimura asked, hesitantly.

Atobe smirked, and said, "You really don't know what your technique could do?"

"I – I know," Yukimura answered, frowning, "I did not mean to use it on you and –"

"Shut up," Atobe snapped at him, grinning, "if you didn't use it, you would lose, and besides, if you didn't use it, it means that you were not playing seriously and I would definitely _hate _that."

Yukimura smiled at Atobe and held his hand to him.

Atobe accepted it, and commented, "You know what, you're not on your usual self, is that what girlfriends do?"

Raising an eyebrow, Yukimura said, "Don't start, Atobe."

"Maybe is should get a girlfriend too, I feel envious," Atobe said, grinning.

"I said, _don't start_," Yukimura repeated, feeling his head catching a migraine.

-- -- --

The Rikkai tennis team decided to eat pizza right after the game; everything could have been comfortable for Yukimura if only Niou did not invited Hattori and her friends. However, deep down inside, he was glad that Niou did invite them since he must admit that he got worried of the thought that he might no longer see Hattori again, but that still did not let his want to punish the trickster with all the commotion he had caused earlier.

"You – you were good," Hattori told him, avoiding Yukimura's gaze, as they sat in the table together along with Sanada, Yanagi, Yagyuu and Hira, leaving the others behind to battle out what pizza flavor they would order.

"Arigatou," Yukimura replied, smiling at her, "I was really surprised to see you there, I –"

"Miyuki invited us," Hattori explained, pointing to herself and Hira, still not looking at him, "I didn't expect to see you here either, especially since you all live in Kanagawa."

"I see…" Yukimura trailed off, looking over his other teammates at the counter, pestering the crew, and saw the girl called Miyuki talking happily to Niou, and said, "I apologize for Niou's actions awhile ago, I know –"

"That's alright, I could've done something myself but Miyuki didn't let me, saying I'm going to cause a huge scandal," Hattori said, trying hard to sound as normal as possible. Somehow, the commotion happened awhile ago made her uncomfortable around Yukimura.

"Ne, Yukimura-san," Hira entered the conversation, smiling at Hattori, "how did you meet Izumi?"

Yukimura turned to Sanada, Yanagi and Yagyuu, then back to Hira, and began, "Well, I met her just this last Monday, I accidentally hit her with a tennis ball while I was practicing at one of the street tennis courts that morning so I – with Niou – brought her to our school so that she'll be fine since she fell unconscious."

"Oh? You were at Kanagawa last Monday?" Hira asked her friend who sighed, anticipating the upcoming lecture, "What were you doing there?"

"Could we just talk about that later?" Hattori told her, with wide eyes telling Hira to leave the said topic alone for a while.

Hira nodded and the others sat with them with the pizza they ordered for all of them. They began to eat enthusiastically, Yukimura talking Sanada off on reprimanding Marui and Kirihara from their loud bickering, saying that they deserve to take a break once in a while. After fifteen minutes or so, Yukimura, then, stood up, and said, "Gomen, guys, I need to go."

"Ne, buchuo, you're going to leave Hattori-san all alone?" Niou teased.

"300 laps on the next practice," Yukimura told him, turning to Sanada, "you take care of them, make sure they won't get into any trouble on the way back to Kanagawa."

Sanada nodded and Yukimura left the pizza parlor alone.

"Ne, Niou-kun, why did Yukimura-san left at once?" Takano asked, curious.

"Every Saturday he goes to the hospital to visit his cousin who's in coma," Yanagi explained, "he stays here in Tokyo until tomorrow morning so that his mother will have a chance to take some rest in their house."

"I see, if you don't mind, can I ask what happened to his cousin?" Takano said, cautiously.

"Drug intoxication," Niou answered, darkly, "she tried to kill herself last February."

Everybody fell silent at that point, the atmosphere got heavy and neither wants to speak despite the wanting to lighten up the mood. Suddenly, Yanagi cleared his throat, and said, "By the way, Seiichi might have missed it due to all the confusion he got himself into that day but his cousin entered Edwards' International School as well."

"Really? Is she a third year like us?" Hira asked, intrigued.

"Iie, she's a year younger than Yukimura," Sanada suddenly entered the conversation, "she's suppose to be in her second year now and is suppose to be attending Rikkaidai since she dropped out last December from your school."

Hira, Takano and Hattori stared at each other, feeling as if they know the girl they are talking about. Edwards' International School only holds few students per batch so it is possible for one student to know each other and such incidents would be easily to know.

"Yeah, she dropped off because of some other girl, if you only know how angry Yukimura is to that girl," Niou added as he shook his head, "the system of your school's interesting by the way, boys and girls are separated from each other from classes to buildings."

Tanako chuckled nervously, and said, "Well, I find it very boring."

"About Yukimura-san's cousin," Hira began, twirling the straw on her drink, "what's her name? I might – we might have known her."

"Oh, buchuo's cousin? The name?" Marui butted in, taking his drink in one gulp, "Me and Akaya call her Kiyoko-chan…_Aizawa__ Kiyoko_."

"Aizawa Kiyoko," Hira repeated, glancing at Takano, who was staring directly at Hattori.

"Excuse me, I need to go to the bathroom," Hattori said, quickly leaving the table and going straight to the bathroom.

"Hey, Izumi, wait for me!" Hira called after her, "Excuse me as well."

Takano stared after her two friends in disbelief, she would want to follow them but that would make the whole thing suspicious, so she chose to stay.

"So, Miyu-chan," Kirihara called her attention, "do you know Kiyoko-chan?"

"I – I've heard of her," Takano answered, "Chikako's sister, Shizuko, is in the same grade as her and I think they were in the same class a year ago…I think…"

-- -- --

Hattori washed her face on the sink and stared at herself in the mirror, Hira was watching her from behind. So far, she is been trying hard to stop herself from banging her head on the hard surfaces in the bathroom. She was glad that there were no people inside for she started punching the bathroom walls.

"Izumi," Hira began, unsure of what she should say.

"For half a year, I looked for her," Hattori told her, looking at her with eyes full of tears that the water did not manage to hide, "and all along she was just at the hospital nearest to my house?!" she added, shaking her head, "I went to Kanagawa last Monday to look for her since I remembered that she did mentioned that she has relatives there, I was almost ready to give her up when I didn't find her, but then, the one I found was her _cousin_! What kind of a sick joke is this?!"

Hira looked away from her, totally speechless.

"Come to think of it, Chikako," Hattori said, staring off to nothingness, "he even accompanied me back here to Tokyo because he have to visit her…_this is really sick_!" she leaned on the walls and slid down to the floor, and continued, "I was on the right track all along, your sister's right, I'm _stupid_."

"I don't want to make you feel worse but…" Hira spoke, standing before her, "are you being like this because all this time Kiyoko's just a walk – or walks – away from your house or because you're starting to like her cousin and everything became suddenly impossible for the two of you? His team did mention that he's angry at the girl who caused Kiyoko with so much depression, right?"

Hattori stared at Hira and shook her head in disbelief and reminding herself how she hated Hira's off-coursed straightforwardness. Straightening herself up and turned back to the sink, and said, "Both."

Hira smirked and shook her head, watching Hattori wash her face.

-- -- -- -- --

To be continued…

-- -- -- -- --


	8. Chapter 8

**All the Truth He Should Know**

-clavee-

-- -- -- -- --

Author's Note: Sorry for not being updating at once, got very busy because of school…I left you hanging with the last chapter so I shouldn't keep you guys waiting any longer…:D I'll try to update as soon as I can, please, read and review! Thanks!

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis.

-- -- -- -- --

_Chapter 8: To Nowhere_

Hattori sat to eat some food at a fast food chain that Sunday morning, thinking of going to the hospital where Yukimura's cousin was confined but changed her mind on the very last minute remembering that Yukimura might still be there.  Thus, he decided to have some snacks since she forgot to eat some breakfast for waking up late and due to extreme anxiousness.

"Mind if I join you?" a person asked just behind her. Hattori knew the voice that just spoke and she felt herself froze by the sound of it.  Slowly, she turned and saw Yukimura holding his own tray with a nice and warm smile.

Putting herself back together, she muttered, "Whatever."

Taking that as a 'yes', Yukimura sat opposite Hattori and began eating his food.  Hattori tried her best to relax but found it hard, thus, she just do the best she could to avoid him.

"By the way, what were you doing out of your house at this time of the day all alone?" Yukimura asked, trying to initiate conversation.

"What is it to you?" Hattori answered, bluntly, while looking straight at Yukimura with sharp eyes.

"Nothing but it's just seem unusual and weird," Yukimura said, calmly, as he was already somehow used to Hattori's attitude, "my sister rarely leaves the house with no one, you see –"

"Not all girls are the same," Hattori cut in.

Yukimura did not dare to say anything more for they might end up arguing with such a silly matter, instead, he thought, _'I know, because if all of you are all the same, you won't be treating me like that.'_  He watched her sip her drink as she looked out the window and notice that despite her cold expressions on her face, her eyes were showing a different set of emotions making him think that she is being bothered by something.  However, thinking for the better good, Yukimura did not dare to ask anything.

"Could you _quit_ staring at me?" Hattori asked, irritatingly.

"Go-gomen…" Yukimura muttered, trying to hide the blush that crept up his cheeks.  Taking a deep breath to regain his composure, Yukimura initiated another conversation with her, saying, "By the way, Yanagi told me that you know my cousin."

Hattori widened her eyes in surprise; she was not definitely expecting Yukimura to talk about his cousin.  "Ha-Hai," Hattori answered, trying to keep herself together, "my friend, Chikako, has a younger sister, Shizuko, she and your cousin happened to be in the same class a year ago."

"I see, I really felt stupid that I didn't knew that you and my cousin are from the same school, it seems that I really panicked hard last Monday to even notice your uniform and your ID which I held on for almost the whole day," Yukimura told her, shaking his head.

Smiling awkwardly, Hattori gathered all courage she could, and asked, "If it's okay with you, do you mind if I ask what happened to your cousin?"

"Oh, not at all," Yukimura answered, and began, "well, as you may already know, she dropped out from your school last December because she had some trouble with some girl, she got really depress because of her that we even tried to put her into therapy," he explained, "of course, she was prescribed with some medicines – some to keep her calm and some to keep her up – unfortunately, one night last February, she intoxicated herself with them, she almost died if not for my sister who found her, that's why she's in coma right now."

"I-I see," Hattori muttered, she could not help but frown as she heard what happened to Aizawa Kiyoko after she left their school and as she could feel Yukimura's anger towards the other girl that he talked about even though he tried to hide it.  She, then, felt very guilty towards everything, so, she asked, "The girl that you said your cousin had trouble with…Niou-san mentioned that you're very angry at her…"

"He did?" Yukimura asked, blinking, and smiled a little, "Well, I don't want to be angry at anyone but, you see, she's older than Kiyoko and she should've know better…I love my cousin very much and I can't help but to think that if it wasn't for her, that if only she have left her alone, Kiyoko wouldn't be in her current condition right now…"

Hattori clenched her fist, tightly.  _'Gomen…' _she said to herself, wishing she could voice them out louder.

"By the way, Hattori-san," Yukimura called her attention once again.

"You can drop the honorifics," Hattori blurted out.

Though slightly confused, Yukimura smiled and complied, "Hattori, are you busy today?"

Puzzled, Hattori shook her head, asking, "Why?"

"Well, I was just thinking that since I saw you and we know each other I thought we could go around the district for a while," Yukimura said, not looking at Hattori's eyes and trying to suppress the blush that is attempting come out, "I'm set to go back to Kanagawa since okaasan have already came back to the hospital this morning, but there's always an instance where she do call me back so I want to stay here a while longer to make sure…"

"I got it," Hattori said, "but where are we going?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Anywhere," Yukimura answered, trying to sound confident as he remembered he never asked out a girl before, "if you have some place in mind, we could go there…"

"I don't have any place in mind," Hattori answered, leaning back.

"But why did you go out if you're not going anywhere?" Yukimura asked, confused.

"What is it to you?" Hattori, again, said the statement for a second time, "Whatever reason it is as to why I left my house is none of your business, just to remind you, we're not exactly friends, we're just mainly acquaintance, so, don't you dare act as if you're my boyfriend or something!"

Being told to be assuming her boyfriend for the second time since they met, Yukimura could not help not to answer back, "You just said to we could drop the honorifics and now you're saying _we're not exactly friends_?! Besides, I'm not acting like I'm your boyfriend or anything, I don't even know how to be one!"

Hattori stared at Yukimura with her sharp eyes and smirked, saying, "You really never had a girlfriend before?"

Feeling embarrassed, Yukimura said, quoting Hattori, "What is it to you?"

Hattori shook her head and suddenly burst out laughing, saying between giggles, "Honestly, no one would think that you're not in a relationship or was that just me because I don't know you too well?" Hattori said, calming down, "I thought you have a girlfriend the first time I saw you, however, that changed when I saw that couldn't get yourself to handle me," she added, grinning, "nonetheless, you're very handsome, you know."

Yukimura felt his face redden at the compliment, smiling sheepishly, and stuttered, "A-Arigatou…"

Smiling, Hattori stood up, and said, "Let's go."

"To where?" Yukimura asked, standing up as well and following Hattori out of the fast food chain.

"To the place I want to go to," Hattori answered, brightly.

"And where's that suppose to be?" he asked again, smiling back.

"To nowhere," Hattori said, turning her back to Yukimura and began walking towards the bus stop.

-- -- --

The sun was already setting by the time Hattori and Yukimura decided to call it a day.  Yukimura insisted of walking Hattori home despite her protest, but Hattori dropped the argument and agreed as she did not want to deal with Yukimura's stubbornness.  Apparently, they did really go to nowhere as they just went around the district – skimming for books at a bookstore, eating late lunch at another fast food chain, teaching Hattori some of the basics of tennis in a street tennis court and sitting at the park for the rest of the afternoon just talking about anything.

When Hattori and Yukimura reached the former's house, they saw another girl leaning in front of the house. "Chikako," Hattori called.

"Izumi," Hira called back, waving a hand, and was surprise at Hattori's company, "Yukimura-san."

"Hello, Hira-san," Yukimura greeted.

"What are you doing here, Chikako?" Hattori asked.

"Well, I got bored at home so I thought if I could spend some time here," Hira explained.

"Why not at Miyuki's place?" Hattori asked, frowning, "That's where you first go to when you get bored since she's nearer at your house."

"Apparently, Miyuki's out on a date right now," Hira informed her, looking at Yukimura, adding, "with Niou-san."

"With Niou?" Yukimura asked and Hira nodded.

"Wow, will you look at that," Hattori said, shaking her head.

"Well, Niou's really good at making girls like him," Yukimura said, remembering every girl he introduced to him since they stepped into high school, "by the way, I really had fun today but I should be going now, arigatou."

"Don't you want to go in for a while?" Hattori asked, not wanting him to leave just yet.

"I would like to but I really need to go," Yukimura said, frowning slightly, "maybe we could see each other again next week? I'll be here again for the weekend."

"Hai, that would be nice," Hattori agreed, her face lightened up, and said, "arigatou, Yukimura, I had fun too."

Yukimura turned back and waved at the two girls who were also waving back at him.  When he was finally out of sight, Hattori opened the gates of her house and let Hira in, saying, "You could've just got in, instead of waiting for me outside, you know."

"Well, I figured out that it would be such a bore to wait for you inside your house," Hira told her as she followed her friend inside. They were walking along the garden when Hira suddenly said, "I've never seen you this happy for a long time now, Izumi."

"What are you talking about?" Hattori asked, confused, sitting at the chair in the veranda.

"You know what I'm talking about," Hira said, grinning, sitting as well on the chair placed opposite Hattori, "you do like him, don't you?"

"We just bumped into each other this morning, it's not like we set everything up," Hattori said, blushing.

"There's no need to be defensive, you know," Hira told her, leaning against the table, "it makes you even more obvious."

"Shut up," Hattori said, looking away from Hira.

"You're getting too comfortable with him," Hira commented again, "if you're falling for him, which I think you already are, I think you got to get yourself clean first."

"What do you mean by that?" Hattori asked, looking back at Hira, sensing the seriousness from her voice.

"Have you already told him who are you at his cousins life?" Hira asked, looking deeply into Hattori's eyes.  Hattori did not answer but Hira already know the truth as she said, "You know you should, if you don't, he might found out about it from someone else, I'm telling you, everything will be much worse if that's what would really happen."

Frowning, Hattori said, "I-I can't."

"I know it's a hard thing to do," Hira told her, smiling sadly, "but you should…you know can, the only reason that you're saying you can't is because you don't want to."

Hattori bit her lower lip, and admitted, "You're right, I don't want to because if I told him the truth, he'll find out how horrible a person I am."

"We can't avoid that possibility," Hira told her, turning to the roses in the garden, "but it would be much better if he finds out everything from you."

"How am I suppose to tell him that the reason why Kiyoko's at the hospital right now and in coma is me?!" Hattori asked, demandingly, feeling tears forming behind her eyes, "How am I suppose to tell him that I'm the reason why Kiyoko ruined her life? I asked him awhile ago, he said I'm older, I should've known better…I should've just left her alone…" she continued, placing her elbows at the table as she covered her eyes with her hands, "it's obvious that he won't understand what I feel…what I _felt_…"

Hira just watch her friend cry, knowing that whatever she has to say would even make her feel worse.  _'We warned you about it, Izumi, but you didn't listen,' _she said to herself, frowning further.

"How am I suppose to explain to him that I never wanted all of this to happen to Kiyoko? That I _loved _her so much that I never wish something like this to happen to her…" Hattori continued, shaking uncontrollably, "I loved her, Chikako, you know that…"

"But, Izumi, it's because of that love that you have for her that brought her to the condition where she is now," Hira said, unable to control herself any longer, "it's because of that love that Kiyoko loved you back and she didn't only loved you back, she loved you so much that's why she tried to end her life because she couldn't live without you…" she added, standing up beside Hattori to embrace her, "but nothing could take away the fact that it was indeed your fault why everything ended up this way…"

"If only those darn teachers left us alone!" Hattori wailed.

"_Iie_, Izumi, if only _you _just left her alone," Hira told her, kneeling down so they could look at each other eye-to-eye, "Kiyoko never wanted to leave, she decided to end everything between the two of you so that you could no longer get into any more trouble but _your_ stubbornness and selfishness made her leave," she continued, looking hard at Hattori, making sure she would not look away, "she never wanted to end everything but she has no choice, she wants you to have a good life and that means giving up every love she have for you…she wanted for the two of you to just settle as being friends because, in that way, you can still live side-by-side…she told you everything but you didn't listen, you failed to understand that she wanted to end everything because she loves you so much…"

"How am I suppose to tell him all that? He would never accept me if he'll find everything out," Hattori said, desperate.

"You've got no choice, Izumi," Hira said, wiping the tears from Hattori's face, "do you really like him? Are you already falling for him?"

Hattori nodded with no hesitations.

Hira smiled, and said, "You've loved Kiyoko but you deprived her of her freedom, don't make the same mistake again, if you're going to love him, you shouldn't deprive him the truth…"

-- -- -- -- --

To be continued…

-- -- -- -- --


	9. Chapter 9

**All the Truth He Should Know**

-clavee-

-- -- -- -- --

Author's Notes: I know this chapter is very much delayed. I got busy from school and work but since my vacation has started already, I'll be able to update this story. Hope you still read it, guys!:D Read and review!

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis.

-- -- -- -- --

_Chapter 9: Truth Uncovered_

"Ne, Izumi," Takano began, as she arrange piles of papers on the table, "you and Yukimura-san have been going out a lot lately."

Hattori shrugged, leaning back on her chair and stare at Takano intently, already knowing that Takano will interrogate her about that subject.  Takano returned the stare with a raise of an eyebrow and a grin which made Hattori roll her eyes, saying, "Honestly, you still wonder why I hate staying in this place?"

Takano looked over at Hira, who is currently sorting folders in the file cabinet, then back at Hattori, and said, "You used to love this place, can't you remember? Back in first year, you said this place is even quieter than the library, that's why you decided to join the student council committee because you would be able to get in and out of this place anytime you want."

"That was ages ago, Miyuki," Hattori told her, getting up her seat and walking over to the opened window which is taking in some fresh air inside the cramped student council office.  It was true, though, that she and Yukimura have been spending their last four Sundays together from morning until late afternoon, just going around the city and somehow their meetings are having more sense now – from the random getaway, Yukimura started to have plans for the precise day, they have watched a movie, they have spent a whole day playing simple tennis, he even brought her to Kanagawa during the last Sunday they were together – however, Hattori still could not get herself to be completely happy about it as she spent most of the time thinking on how she would tell Yukimura all the things that he does not know about her.  Sighing heavily, Hattori walked towards the door, saying, "I'll be back in a while."

Takano and Hira watched her leave the room and looked at each other.

"To the music room again?" Takano asked Hira, frowning.

"Most likely," Hira answered, putting her attention back to her work.

-- -- --

Hattori went straight to the piano as soon as she got inside the music room; she opened the lid and sat on its chair and began playing the only piano piece she knows – the one that Aizawa have taught her before all the troublesome occurrences.  She was about to finish the piece when someone called her attention from behind, "I thought you got your life going on a new direction, why are you still coming back here to play that piece?"

Turning to look at the newcomer, Hattori frowned and stood up, walking towards the room's window and opened it.  "I'm sure you know who I'm spending most of my free time with, Shizuko…how would I be able to get away from her when she's very important to the person that's making my world right now?" she said, breathing in the fresh air from outside.

The younger Hira walked towards her, and said, "You know I'm not into these things but you're right, I know you've been spending most of your free time with a tennis player from Kanagawa, nee-chan told me, and you know what I think?"

Hattori turned to Hira and looked directly to her eyes, and asked, "Iie, tell me."

"Life's playing its most frustrating games on you," Hira answered, crossing her arms across her chest, grinning.

Smirking, Hattori replied, "I thought of that as well and I'm telling you, it's freaking annoying."

"_Then play against it_," Hira said, uncrossing her arms and walking closer to Hattori.

"Nani?" Hattori inquired, confused.

"Play against it," Hira repeated, "life's a bitch and life's a sadist, a sadist gets his or her enjoyment from the troubles of other people but they can be outwitted if the subject manages to outsmart the sadist…outsmart life, you could do it."

"How?" Hattori asked, somewhat in disbelief as she finds herself listening to the younger Hira for the first time in her life.

Hira turned back and walked towards the door, and said, "You don't really have any idea how?"

"I won't ask if I do," Hattori quipped, crossing her arms across her chest, slightly annoyed.

Looking at Hattori intently, Hira took a deep breath, and said, "Tell him all the truth that he should know."

-- -- --

The bell rang, signifying the end of day – students flocked out of their classrooms, some on their way home, some on their school duties and some on their club activities.  Yukimura waited for his classroom door to empty as he does not feel joining the pack of the students getting out of it, he sat quietly on his place and kept staring at his cellphone which displays 47 missed calls from just one person, Hattori Izumi.  The last call was 30 minutes ago and Yukimura felt worried as no one would call that much if there was nothing important.  Sighing, he searched for Hattori's number in his phonebook and was about to press the 'call' button when someone called him from the door.

"Yukimura," Sanada called, joined by Yanagi and Yagyuu from behind, "practice."

Sighing once again, Yukimura put his cellphone in his pocket and gathered his things, joining his friends on the corridor.  Sanada kept on staring at him while Yanagi and Yagyuu discussed their last Physics lesson, sensing the weight of the Sanada's stare, Yukimura turned to him and smiled.

"Any problem?" Sanada asked.

"What makes you say that I have one?" Yukimura replied.

"You look thoroughly worried," Sanada answered.

"Really? Am I that transparent already?" Yukimura answered, "I used to be able to hide what I think, right?"

Sanada nodded, and said, "Before you met Hattori-san, that is, Yukimura."

Chuckling, Yukimura quipped, "If you want to know how to tease, better ask Niou or Marui because you're bad at it."

"I'm not teasing, I'm stating a mere fact," Sanada told him, keeping his composure, "we've known each other ever since who-knows-when, Yukimura, besides, it's not only me who noticed it, everyone did – Yanagi, Yagyuu, Niou, Marui, Jackal and Akaya – we all noticed that you've changed ever since you met Hattori-san."

"Is it good or is it bad?" Yukimura asked, smiling sheepishly as he could not believe that he is talking about such things with Sanada.

"I think it's good," Sanada answered, "it's good that you're becoming more expressive, in that case, we would be able to read you more easily and that you would no longer keep things to yourself."

Smiling, Yukimura replied, "I think that's bad."

They finally arrived in the clubroom where Jackal has just finished changing and Niou was sitting at the bench quietly, staring at the newcomers.

"Where's Marui and Aka-chan?" Yukimura asked, looking around the peaceful clubroom.

"They're at the tennis courts, chasing one another," Jackal answered, closing his locker, "apparently, Marui got hold of Akaya's English essay and he kept on making fun out of it, that's why I'm going out there right now to make them stop."

"Arigatou, Jackal, please do so," Yukimura said, smiling, turning to Niou and sitting beside him, "what's wrong? You seem to be quiet today or else you could've joined Marui in teasing Akaya."

Niou sighed but did not answer.

"Did you and Takano-san have a fight?" Yukimura asked, grinning.

Still, Niou kept quiet.

"Hey, stop that, you're making me worried," Yukimura said, pouting a little, "I've never seen you like this before so what's the matter?"

Niou still ignored Yukimura's question which made the other annoyed.

"We're going to the courts now, Seiichi," Yanagi told him when Yukimura was about to yell at Niou.

"Alright," Yukimura answered and realized he has not changed to his tennis uniform yet; he quickly went to his locker, saying, "gather everyone and start the warm-ups."

"Hai," Sanada replied, leaving the clubroom along with Yanagi and Yagyuu.

Deciding that he should deal with tennis practice first, Yukimura told Niou, "If you're not speaking up, that's fine with me, but remember that you could always just come to me if you already feel like talking."

-- -- --

Yukimura was finally on their street and he could finally see their house from where he was coming.  He was craving for his bed as he wants to take a rest at once after the hard practice.  When he finally reached their house, Yukimura noticed a person sitting at the sidewalk in front of their house.

"Niou," Yukimura called and the other looked at him.

Standing up, Niou said, "I need to talk to you, Yukimura."

Sensing total seriousness from the other, Yukimura just nodded and led him inside their house all the way to his room.  When they were already in the comfort of Yukimura's room which was not something new to Niou, he sat on Yukimura's bed and began rummaging his bag.  Yukimura sat beside him and waited until Niou finally found what he was looking for.

"Is that a music notebook?" Yukimura asked when Niou grabbed something out of his bag.

"It is," Niou answered, handing it over to him while looking intently into Yukimura's eyes.

"Why is this thing bothering you?" Yukimura shot another question, staring at the cover of the notebook and saw the name printed on it, and asked, "Where did you get this?"

Sighing, Niou answered, "Miyuki gave that to me last Saturday when I went to picked her up in her school, she said it was left in the student's council office for months now and she felt that it'll be good to return it…she asked me to give it to you since you're Kiyoko-chan's cousin."

"I see, thank her for me," Yukimura told him, "but I still don't know what's bothering you."

"You hate her, right?" Niou asked.

"Excuse me?" Yukimura inquired, he heard Niou right but he did not see where that came from, making him confused all of the sudden.

"You hate the person who caused all the trouble Kiyoko-chan got into, right?" Niou asked again, making his question more understandable.

Yukimura frowned, and said, "I do but it's not like I'm hunting her or anything…"

"Well, I don't know if this is good but I believe this is the right thing to do," Niou muttered, he took a deep breath, and said, "open the notebook and look at the signature at the end of every music piece."

Though totally lost, Yukimura did what he was asked to do.  The notebook was filled with his cousin's own piano piece, each entitled with "Forbidden Sonata 1", "Forbidden Sonata 2", and so forth.  He saw what Niou wants him to see, saying, "It's in English."

"I know…" Niou told him, anxious, "what does it say?"

"It says, _'To my beautiful fountain'_," Yukimura answered, still confused, surprisingly, however, he is not feeling impatient just like what normally happens.

"You still don't get it do you?" Niou asked, sighing, trying to lengthen his patience, thinking, _'Of all times you have to be this dumb, you chose now.'_

"Iie, gomen," Yukimura said, closing the music notebook and frowning.

"What's the Japanese name which has the English translation of _'fountain'_?" Niou asked, trying to help Yukimura out as he does not want to spill what he was trying to say all at once – he wants Yukimura to figure it all out.

"Japanese name? Well…this is a name of girl right?" Yukimura asked, trying to use logic to Niou's game, he went to his desk and opened his laptop.  He rarely used the English word, hence, he does not really remember what its equivalent is in his native tongue.  After the laptop loaded, he quickly searched the internet for female Japanese names when he suddenly froze.

Niou sensed saw Yukimura tensed up all of the sudden; he walked towards him, and asked, "You finally know what, am I right?"

Yukimura turned to Niou, eyes wide, shock completely written over his face.  He could not answer verbally as he was suddenly rendered speechless nor he could nod or shook his head.  After a couple more seconds, he spoke, "Ho-How can that be?"

"I don't know, Yukimura," Niou answered, taking the music notebook from the desk where Yukimura neatly placed it and turned it to the very last page.  Showing what was at the very last page of the notebook, he added, "but it's the whole truth…"

Yukimura bit his lip and stared at the last page of the notebook – it was a picture of his cousin and…_Hattori Izumi_.

-- -- -- -- --

To be continued…

-- -- -- -- --


	10. Chapter 10

**All the Truth He Should Know**

-clavee-

--- --- --- --- ---

Author's Note: Another update before school starts. I'm not sure when I can get to update again but I hope you guys will stay tuned. Sorry if I kind of make Sanada and Niou a bit OOC, especially Sanada. Please read and review! Thanks!:D

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis.

--- --- --- --- ---

_Chapter 10: Awakening Confrontation_

The Rikkaidai boys' tennis club was having their probably most suicidal tennis practice that afternoon. Everyone, even the non-regulars, was working very hard beyond their limits. After thirty minutes of nonstop laps, racquet swings, etc. Yanagi blew the whistle which is signaling their first fifteen-minute break. Kirihara and Marui, who were playing doubles alongside each other against Yagyuu and Jackal as an experiment, plopped down the ground, sweating and breathing hard, while the other two just walked over Sanada and Yanagi.

"Still no Yukimura or Niou?" Jackal asked.

"None," Yanagi answered, writing something on his notebook.

"It's been thirty minutes now, do you think there's something wrong?" Jackal asked, checking his watch from his pocket.

"No point worrying, Jackal," Marui said, slumping over the bench and gulping almost the whole of his bottled water, "especially about Niou, having him miss a practice or two has been completely normal ever since junior high so there's nothing worth fussing about that."

"And about Yukimura?" Jackal queried, raising ang eyebrow.

"Well, you know," Marui began, not really knowing what to say, "there's always a time for all of us."

Jackal shook his head.

"I'm just going to get my towel from the locker room," Marui told Sanada and Yanagi, "I'll be back in just a sec."

The rest of the regulars watched their "tensai" walked towards their locker room and turned to each other.

"Do you really think he knows something?" Kirihara asked, standing along his senpais.

"It's impossible that he doesn't," Yagyuu said, pushing his glasses up his nose.

"But he's not that close to buchuo, why would he know why he's not here?" Kirihara asked, slightly confused.

"Because we believe that Niou knows why Yukimura is not here and everything Niou knows Marui _knows_," Yanagi explained, turning to him, "they are not _best_ friends for nothing."

--- --- ---

"Care to tell us something we don't know?" Sanada asked as he stood by the locker room door.

Marui turned to him in a halt, making his right leg hit the bench, and said, "Goodness, fukubuchuo, don't scare me like that."

"Gomen," Sanada said, walking over to him, "I just want to know why Yukimura and your best friend are not _here_."

"Oh, well…" Marui began, looking away, "as I said, there's nothing to worry about Niou's case, I mean this is _not_ the first time he did something like this, right? But as for buchuo, I have _no_ idea, I mean, why would _I_ have an idea? It's not like he confides his concerns to me right? He only talks to _you_ about that, so if you don't know why he isn't here, why would you think I have a slightest idea about his whereabouts?"

"You're justifications make sense to me, I never thought you could talk with such sense, perhaps I've been underestimating you since you always act in an immature kind of way that I always forget that you're one of the oldest people in our batch," Sanada told him, sitting down at the bench, "but _don't_ think I'll buy that explanation of yours, I know that you know something."

"I told you, Sanada –"

"I saw them talking very intently this morning before the practice began, they're even talking in whispers in a urgent kind of way," Sanada began, looking up at him, "then I caught them talking – no, _arguing_ – at the rooftop just this lunchtime, I didn't caught what they are arguing about though, so care to tell me? You seem to know something, I mean, Niou would've told you, right? _He_ always tells _you_ anything that's been going on with him ever since."

Sighing, Marui slumped down the bench with Sanada, saying, "You know what, that's the first time you said a lot of things to me, never thought you could say so much word in just one go…it makes me comfortable talking to you, somehow."

"So you're going to say anything why they are not here?" Sanada asked, hopeful.

"Well, I know you should know but Niou said not to tell anyone even though he also believes that you should know, it's just that Yukimura's being stubborn," Marui began, looking down at the floor, "well, you see, Yukimura finally knew who caused his cousin all the trouble she herself into but he didn't expect that person to be her…now, he went to Edwards the moment the bell rang before you guys could pick him up in his classroom to talk to her, Niou followed him."

"I thought his not hunting the girl, why is it so important to him to talk to her all of the sudden?" Sanada asked, curious.

"Well…it's because…the girl we're talking about is…_Izumi-chan_," Marui told him, looking at him intently.

--- --- ---

Hattori made her way to the fast food chain she and Yukimura always met at the moment their school bell rang, even avoiding her two friends for that matter since they have an important student council meeting. However, if not for Yukimura's urgent call that morning, she would not be skipping any of her important agendas. Entering the fast food chain, she saw Yukimura sitting at a corner with his cellphone to his ear which he put back to his pocket when he saw her.

"Hey," Hattori greeted, sitting opposite him, "what's the matter?"

Yukimura breathed in deeply, and said, "I just want to ask you company somewhere."

"Where would that be?" Hattori asked, curious.

"You'll see," he said, standing up, adding, "but while we're on our way there I don't want you to ask any questions, they could wait until we get there."

"I-I see," Hattori agreed, nodding, certain that Yukimura is not taking her to any romantic place by the he talks, "let's go then."

With just a few walks after leaving the fast food chain, Hattori could not believe that Yukimura was leading her to the nearby hospital, making her feel nervous and scared all of the sudden. She kept biting her lower lip to stop herself from asking Yukimura why they are in a hospital. Clenching her fist, Hattori was reciting a silent prayer in her brain, wishing that she is not about to face her greatest fear. They stopped by in front of a room, Yukimura put a hand on the door knob for a moment, not looking at Hattori, before opening it and letting Hattori step inside first. Hattori looked at Yukimura, reluctant to get inside, and Yukimura just avoided her gaze. Breathing deeply, Hattori stepped inside the room and stared at the girl lying down on the hospital bed with various apparatus attached to her body.

"So, she's your cousin," Hattori spoke, turning to Yukimura who was staring at her blankly, "why you brought be here all of the sudden?"

"You're _not_ stupid, Hattori, we both know why we're here," Yukimura told her.

Biting her lower lip, tears began to fall from her eyes, and said, "You already _knew_."

"Yeah, I do," Yukimura admitted, "I already do."

"I-I'm –"

"Sorry?" Yukimura finished, "For _what_?"

"For letting all this happen," Hattori answered and all of the sudden the Hattori Yukimura first knew was nowhere to be seen, "I didn't –"

"Mean to?" Yukimura cut her for the second time, "You also didn't mean to keep all these from me, did you?"

"I-I got scared, I don't want you to get mad at me," Hattori admitted, sobbing.

"What difference does _that_ make? It's not as if I'm not furious about you right this very minute," Yukimura told her, clenching his fists, "it's even harder this way because I don't want to feel like this towards you, I don't want to get mad at you like this but I can't help it."

"I was planning to tell you," Hattori said, "I just don't know how."

"So you _didn't_ thought that there'll be someone out there who can tell me the whole truth," Yukimura countered back, "this world is small and you know it, how could you think you can keep such a secret long enough?"

"Gomen, I was not as smart as you think," Hattori told him, "I know I was being _stupid_ and _selfish _but I just don't want you to hate me like that –"

"Just like how you want my cousin not to leave you, right?" Yukimura said, turning to his cousin who was in coma, "_Look at her_, she couldn't ever breathe and eat on her own much less open her eyes because of you."

"I know that's why I wanted to apologized but I didn't –" Hattori tried to explain but was interfered once again.

"You didn't expect to find her like _this_, is that it?" Yukimura asked, "My cousin _loves_ you, she got depressed after leaving you, like I said, you should've known better."

"_Stop it please_!" Hattori exclaimed, "I know I was terrible, I made a very huge mistake and it's hard to forgive that, but if you only knew, I'm already being _punished_ the moment I _met_ you!"

Yukimura did not expect to hear something like what Hattori had just said, it awakened his inner thought of just simply forgiving her but the anger was much stronger. "This doesn't have _anything_ to do with me!" he said, looking away towards the window, "_Absolutely_ nothing to do with me!"

"Seiichi-oniichan…"

Hattori and Yukimura froze and turned to one another after hearing a faint whisper. Knowing what the sound already was, Yukimura walked over to the bed where his cousin lay and saw her eyes half-open. Sitting on the side of the bed, still looking stunned, he brushed away a strand of Aizawa's hair away from her eyes, smiling, and asked, "How are you?"

Smiling weakly, Aizawa spoke in harsh whisper, "Weird."

Yukimura slightly laugh at the comment, thinking as if his cousin never been into coma. "Wait here, I'll just call the doctor," he said, making his way out the door.

"Iie, I'll do that," Hattori called, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Iie, _stay_ here," Yukimura told her, looking at her emotionlessly.

Nodding, Hattori complied, not really wanting to be in the room as of the moment.

"Izumi? You're here?" Aizawa called after recalling whose voice she had heard.

Breathing deeply for the hundredth time that day, Hattori made sure that her face is clean from all the tears and turned to her. Walking to her slowly, she smiled as her eyes met hers, and greeted, "Hey…"

Smiling, Aizawa said, "Its true then, you and Seiichi-oniichan have met."

Hattori smiled back, and answered, "Yeah…you knew?"

"Hai, he always talk about you when he's here, I just couldn't wake up so to talk to him about you," Aizawa explained as Hattori sat on the side of the bed.

Hattori smiled even more, and whispered, "I see…"

"Wonder what's taking oniichan for too long, he could've just press the button over there, right?" Aizawa pondered with a sigh.

--- --- ---

Yukimura leaned on the door and listened to the faint conversation of his cousin and Hattori, feeling pain creeping towards his whole body. He has been praying for his cousin to wake up but he did not wish to happen the way it does simply because he was not prepared for it. Yukimura straightened himself up when a nurse passed by and asked for his cousin's doctor, the nurse quickly complied after he told her that the patient was already awake. Feeling completely defeated in an unknown reason to him, he sat at the chairs provided in the hallway and buried his face in his palms.

"Hey," a voice greeted him.

Looking up to see who have just spoke, Yukimura greeted back, "Hey, why are you here?"

"I followed you," Niou answered, sitting beside his buchuo, "what happened?"

With a small smile, Yukimura said, "Kiyoko woke up while Hattori and I were arguing, perfect timing, huh?"

"That's good in a way, right?" Niou said, leaning back, "You've wanted her to wake ever since she got confined here."

"I know, but…"

"You wish she didn't," Niou supplied, looking at Yukimura.

"Not really, it's just…" Yukimura began, searching for the words to bring together whatever was on his mind as the doctor and the nurses went inside the room he have just left, "I feel I'm being selfish, when I heard her voice I began to think that I…"

"You thought that you have already lost Hattori," Niou continued once again, putting a hand on Yukimura's shoulder, "there's nothing wrong with that, well, it's not all that good but it's perfectly normal…you like her, perhaps, even love her despite only meeting her for just a month, she's a very unique girl."

"But what will I do now?" Yukimura asked, turning to Niou.

"Well, it's either you get your cellphone from your pocket or quickly go back home to tell your okaasan that Kiyoko-chan's already conscious," Niou told him, smiling his gentle smile, "there's no point of worrying too much of what happened inside that room awhile ago, you can't just assume that your cousin and Hattori will get back together and, honestly, I highly doubt that."

"How can you be sure?" Yukimura asked, curious.

"I actually heard a bit of your argument," Niou admitted, grinning, "I heard her say something about being punished after meeting you? If I heard that right, she must be talking about how she can't get herself to be with you right away because of the things she have done in the past, she's in love with you, Yukimura, that's why she kept these all from you…" he continued, standing up, "but I won't convince you to believe all that now since, right now, you're angry, confused, etc., you need time to think on your own and wait what'll happen tomorrow or on the next day."

Agreeing, Yukimura stood up as well, and said, "Let's go home, shall we? I'll call okaasan on the way."

"Sure," Niou agreed, adding, "could you just allow me to do something to you just this once?"

"Yeah, sure, what's that?" Yukimura asked as he began to walk out the hospital.

"This," Niou answered and ruffled Yukimura's head just like the way he does with Marui and Kirihara.

"Hey!" Yukimura exclaimed, surprised.

"There, that will do," Niou said, grinning, removing his hand from Yukimura's head.

Smiling, Yukimura said, "Arigatou."

--- --- --- --- ---

To be continued…

--- --- --- --- ---


	11. Chapter 11

**All the Truth He Should Know**

-clavee-

--- --- --- --- ---

Author's Note: I suddenly found a time to write a new chapter amidst my busy schedule. Hahaha. 11th chapter!!! Wheee! I was surprise to find that I went beyond the 10 chapters when the longest I wrote only has 9 (Rain's Gift), I don't know, I just didn't thought that I was capable of writing a super long fic. Hihi. Please read and review!:D

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis.

--- --- --- --- ---

_Chapter 11: Surprise Visits_

Aizawa was staring at the ceiling for the last thirty minutes. Yukimura's okaasan, her aunt, had just left to buy some food that she has been missing to eat. Normally, she does not want to be left alone when awake, but since the sensei have allowed her to eat her favorite foods, she chose to be left alone while her aunt go to the nearest convenient store. Frowning, she suddenly remembered that her dear cousin, Seiichi, have not visited her yet ever since she woke up, Seiichi's imouto, who visited the day before, said that it was because of the nearing finals of the Kantou tournament – a step closer to the Nationals. Shrugging, she then remembered how she missed watching tennis matches, especially that of her cousin. '_Perhaps they're defending their title…'_ she thought with a bitter smile.

"You're awake," a voice greeted from the entrance of the room.

Looking away from the ceiling to see who have just arrived, Aizawa smiled at the sight of Hattori who, obviously, just came from school. "You're back," she replied, seeing a bag of fruits on her right hand.

"Hai," Hattori answered, and added, "I have someone else with me."

"_Really?_" Aizawa asked, interested – ever since she woke up, there are only three people that she see normally, Yukimura's okaasan and imouto, and Hattori, "Who?"

"Hi," a girl with a very long, black hair greeted, "it's been a long time, Kiyoko."

"Shizuko!" Aizawa called, excitedly, smile widening.

Hattori smiled at the sight of a happy Aizawa, and said, "I promised to bring her here, right? So, here she is, better make it worthwhile as convincing her was not a very easy task."

"Of course, I will," Aizawa told her as Hira Shizuko sat at the side of the bed, "arigatou, Izumi."

"You're welcome," Hattori replied, "by the way, I'll just make a call to okaasan…she's looking some of her books that I might've read. I'll be back."

"Sure," Aizawa said as Hattori left the room, turning to Hira, she asked, "How have you been?"

Putting her things at the foot of the bed, she sighed and answered, "I've been good, nothing changed much."

"I can see that," Aizawa said, leaning back to her pillows, "I've been wanting to ask her this but I couldn't so I'll just ask you instead, _how's Izumi_?"

"Hattori-san?" Hira asked, trying to act surprised but she already knew that Aizawa will ask her about it, "She was totally devastated when you left, she –"

"I'm not asking about _that_," Aizawa cut her short with a small smile.

"Oh, you're not?" Hira asked, confused.

"I know she got totally depressed when I left, I knew she will be even before I dropped out," she told her, looking back up at the ceiling, "what I want to know is how have she been since I woke up, my cousin have not visited me yet and I'm totally sure that they have not seen each other again much less talked, Seiichi-oniichan was _totally_ angry…"

"I bet he really is," Hira agreed, sighing, "I told Hattori-san to tell him at once but she was really scared…"

"She already loves him, right?" Aizawa asked, smiling at the thought, "She miss him already but she can't see him because he probably is still angry."

"I bet not," Hira said, making Aizawa look at her, "I think your cousin is no longer mad, that the only reason why your cousin doesn't come here is because he don't want to see you with her or her with you."

"Are you saying he's _jealous_?" Aizawa asked, raising an eyebrow then shaking her head, "That's impossible, Seiichi-oniichan is not a person who easily get jealous."

"I haven't met him yet but I think it's not easy for a person to see the boy or the girl that he or she have fallen in love with together with the person they have loved in the past," Hira told her, "it makes them feel _intimidated_."

"Really?" Aizawa queried, thinking deeply, "Ne, perhaps you're right, you're the smart one after all."

"Ne, Kiyoko…" Hira began, staring at the floor.

"Hai?" Aizawa replied, looking at her friend with a frown.

"If Hattori-san is really finally in love with your cousin, what would you feel?" Hira asked, cautiously.

Aizawa smiled, and said, "I would feel _great_…I know Seiichi-oniichan can take care of her and I know that she can take care of him too. When oniichan began telling stories about her, I was surprised, I can't believe I didn't woke up right then and there, but I was happy…I've never heard him talk about anything other than tennis, tennis, tennis…that's why I know she's meant for him…besides, Shizuko, I've been awake for almost two weeks now and by things are going…and by what the sensei have told me and the people who are always here, including Izumi, _I'm not going to last long in this world_…"

Hira widened her eyes at what her friend had just told her, and asked, "_You're dying_? But you seem to be doing very well, that can't be."

Smiling a sad smile, Aizawa began, "My body's no longer responding with the medicines, I still have a lot to take in, I'm not yet totally healed…aside from that, it's a miracle that I regained my consciousness at the very first place…if I won't die because of brain damage, I can die because of other things, my immune system is already busted."

Hira looked away, not knowing what to say anymore. She have always been cold and stoic but whenever she encountered moments where the people close to her are concerned, she could not easily stabilize herself, just like now. Fortunately, the door opened and Hattori have come back, saying, "Gomen, I ended up going home because okaasan and I can't get to understand each other on the phone."

"Ne, Izumi," Aizawa began, smiling once again, "the finals of the Kantou tournament will be held next week, right?"

"Ah, hai," Hattori answered, feeling uneasy all of the sudden, "Miyuki also said so."

"_I want to watch_, can you help me convince the senseis and Auntie?" Aizawa asked, looking hopeful.

Hattori stared at Aizawa, and answered, "I'll see what I can do…"

--- --- ---

Based from the direction that was given to her, she was on the right direction. Nonetheless, she never thought that Rikkaidai can be such a huge place. Making her way inside the university premises, Hira Shizuko went straight to one of the buildings to make her presence legal and known. She ignored the stares that she was getting from the university students because of her uniform and went straight to the Science building and towards the office of the Dean. Hira knocked for the sake of courtesy before entering, she approached the reception, saying, "I need to know where the office of the Chemistry department coordinator is located."

"May I know your name, ma'am?" the receptionist asked, looking away from her computer work.

"Hira Shizuko of Edwards International School," Hira answered, calmly, "the Chemistry department coordinator is my cousin."

"Right this way, Hira-san," the receptionist stood up from her seat and led the way. The office was at very end of the corridor, the receptionist knocked and said, "Hira-sensei, a relative of yours has come to see you, her name is Hira Shizuko."

In just a matter of seconds, the door was opened by a woman in her early thirties; she looked at the receptionist with a smile, and said, "Arigatou, I'll take care of her."

"Hai," with that the receptionist took a bow went back to her place.

Hira-sensei gazed at the younger Hira with amusement in her eyes, and said, "Come in."

Closing the door behind her, Hira followed her cousin all the way inside the office which was full of various stuffs and was filled different chemical scents. She sat down at the chair by the table as she feels like throwing up at the sight of the huge amount of papers stacked everywhere.

"I know the room's a mess, gomen," Hira-sensei told her, as she sat on her chair, "what brought you here, Shizuko?"

"I need you to help me get inside the high school premises," Hira answered in her most straightforward manner.

--- --- ---

Kirihara slumped down at the lowest bleachers after running 30 laps around the courts – all because of a silly prank that was conducted by his dear Niou-senpai, who is at the court playing a singles match against Jackal, but the devil-child could definitely see the mischievous grin that he has in his lips. '_Stupid Niou-senpai! I'll get back to you!'_ he thought, panting. After stabilizing his breathing, Kirihara finally stood up to get back down the courts before his Yukimura-buchuo give him another humongous amount of laps. Taking his final breath, Kirihara began to walk down the bleachers.

"Excuse me," a girl's voice called the devil-child's attention.

Kirihara turned and stared at the girl who has a very long black hair and is wearing a uniform same as Hattori. His eyes narrowed, and asked, "Are you from Edwards? What are you doing here? I mean, how did get in here? I thought the school authorities do not allow outsiders ever since last year."

"That doesn't matter," the girl answered, "I'm Hira Shizuko and I'm looking for the Yukimura Seiichi-san."

"Why?" Kirihara asked, totally out of curiousity.

Sighing in annoyance, Hira snapped, "I believe that's _none_ of your business."

Kirihara swallowed with sudden fear towards the girl who is giving him sharp glares, turning to the courts, he looked for his buchuo. Finally seeing him with Sanada, he bellowed, "YUKIMURA-BUCHUO! SOMEONE'S LOOKING FOR YOU!"

Yukimura turned to the direction of his kouhai's voice and saw him at the bleachers with a girl that he has not seen yet before. Leaving Sanada with the non-regulars, he walked towards the bleachers and saw that the girl was wearing an Edwards International School uniform. Climbing up the bleachers, he somehow has a guess why the girl came all the way to Rikkaidai.

"Go back to your drills, Akaya," Yukimura instructed his kouhai who does not have any intention of leaving.

"Ha-Hai," Kirihara left the bleachers but jogged towards Niou who is already with Marui, apparently, all the activities in the court were put into a halt.

"What is it?" Yukimura asked, not bothering despite being completely watched by the whole tennis team.

"My name is Hira Shizuko," Hira introduced herself, looking straight at Yukimura, "and I'm here to talk to you about something very important."

"Hira Shizuko? You're Hira Chikako's imouto?" Yukimura asked, recalling, "What is it that you want to talk about?"

"About _you_ and _Hattori-san_," Hira answered, firmly.

"I don't believe that's very important," Yukimura said, looking away.

"It is," Hira told him, "I visited your cousin yesterday, she said she wants to see you but apparently you don't seem to have any plans on visiting her."

Yukimura looked back at her, and said, "The Kantou finals are coming up, I don't have enough time to do other things which is very sad, I do want to visit her and I'm planning to do so after the games."

"I _don't_ believe you," Hira said, stepping closer to Yukimura, "you don't want to go to the hospital because Hattori-san's always _there_, you don't want to see your cousin with her and her with your cousin."

"Why do you look so confident talking about things that you don't know about?" Yukimura asked, narrowing his eyes at her.

Smirking, Hira said, "Because _I_ know all about it, _I_ was the one who warned Kiyoko about her relationship with Hattori-san, _I_ was the one who convinced her to break up with her, the _one_ who suggested to leave Edwards if Hattori-san won't leave her alone…_I_ was the one who told Hattori-san to welcome you into her life, I even told her to tell you the whole truth before anyone does…"

"Well, apparently, she didn't follow your advice," Yukimura said, "older people doesn't feel good when younger people tells them what they should do."

"She did," Hira told him, "she did follow my advice, she let you in her life, do you think she will go out with you every weekend if she didn't? Perhaps she failed about telling you everything, but she was planning to, fate was just not on her side…"

"She have _all_ the time she needed to tell me," Yukimura said, trying to keep his voice steady, "she asked me about Kiyoko, she could've told me right then and there."

"Why? If you'll be in her place, would you be able to do that easily?" Hira asked, raising her voice a notch higher, "Can you easily tell the person you have fallen in love with that you're the reason why the person important to him or her almost died?!"

"Hattori is _not_ in love with me," Yukimura told her, frowning.

"Are you sure? Did she say that she's not?" Hira asked, raising an eyebrow, "You men are really stupid, aren't you? Or is it just _you_ that's stupid? _She is, damn it_! That's why she wasn't able to tell you everything right away because she's afraid to lose you at once, I bet she told you that the moment you confronted her!"

Yukimura stared at Hira, not knowing what to say. He, then, suddenly remembered all the things Hattori said back at the hospital…'_I-I got scared, I don't want you to get mad at me…I was planning to tell you, I just don't know how…I know I was being stupid and selfish but I just don't want you to hate me like that…I'm already being punished the moment I met you!'_

"I'm right, am I?" Hira asked, gently, "I'm leaving, I think that's already enough…"

Yukimura nodded, saying, "Arigatou…"

"There are still other things that you should know, but I think you have to find that out on your own," Hira told him, turning her back to leave.

After watching the young Hira leave, Yukimura descended the bleachers, yelling, "SHOW'S OVER! GO BACK TO PRACTICE!"

Everyone quickly resumed what they were doing, at the same time, trying to avoid bumping to one another and falling onto their feet. On the other hand, Yukimura went straight to the locker room. Feeling frustrated, he jammed his fist to his locker and slumped himself on the bench, burying his face on his palms.

"I never thought that kid was that smart," a voice spoke, making Yukimura look up.

"Niou," Yukimura acknowledged his presence, "I told you to go back to practice."

"I know, but I think you need someone to talk to," Niou told him, sitting at bench as well, "the brat was wondering how she got inside the school's premises, I told him she have a cousin at the college department, perhaps, she asked her to help her get in."

"How did you know that?" Yukimura asked, staring at the floor.

"Miyuki told me, of course," Niou answered, leaning back, "I told you she's in love with you, even that Hira-kid thinks so, she even pointed out the things that I pointed out on you two weeks ago, medically speaking, you just have a second opinion so don't tell me you _still_ don't believe that."

Sighing, Yukimura said, "Why doesn't she just tell it to my face? It'll be much easier for me believe it's true."

Chuckling, Niou put a hand on Yukimura's head, saying, "She can't even call you on your cellphone, how do you expect her to run all the way here and say that to you? She thinks you're still mad at her, why don't you be the one go to her and tell her that you're no longer angry? Perhaps she'll tell you that. _Or_…why not be the _one_ to confess?"

Yukimura turned to Niou, eyes narrowing, and asked, "What would I confess about?"

"You're in love with her, Yukimura," Niou said, looking directly to Yukimura's eyes, "don't tell me you're not because that will obviously go against to the pain that you're going through right now, you're behavior has been unstable lately…you've been frowning a lot, you rarely smile…if you're _mad_, you _won't_ let Hattori see your cousin."

Biting his lower lip, Yukimura looked away, and admitted, "I-I'm _scared_…I've never felt this way before… what about Kiyoko?"

"Kiyoko-chan? I bet she already knows that Hattori-san is already in love with you," Niou told him, "and I think she's okay with it, she's looking for you, isn't she? Besides, she already left her, she won't come back to her after all the trouble she has been through and she won't want to Hattori-san to experience it all over again as well…if you don't believe me, why don't you go and talk to her?"

"Have you…_talked_ to her?" Yukimura asked, looking back at Niou, curious.

"Nah, I just thought that Hira Shizuko won't go all the way here to tell you that Hattori-san is in love with you if the two of them will reconcile," Niou explained, smiling and ruffling Yukimura's hair, "it won't make sense."

Yukimura smiled after two weeks of frowning, saying, "After the Kantou, I'll settle all these after the Kantou."

--- --- --- --- ---

To be continued…

--- --- --- --- ---


	12. Chapter 12

All the Truth He Should Know

-clavee-  
--- --- --- --- ---

Authors Note: Oh, I know a lot of you out there are so dying to kill me now:p I know this chapter is long overdue but I hope youre still up to reading it. Ill try to write the next chapter at once!:D I honestly love writing this chapter, very romantic~probably the most romantic chapter/story I ever written:p Please read and review!:D

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis.

--- --- --- --- ---

Chapter 12: _Endless Pleading_

Loud cheers filled the tennis courts as the Yukimura Seiichi defeated Tezuka Kunimitsu, 7-6, after a very long tiebreaker. Despite the rain that interrupted the match during the D1 game, the Kantou tournament was finally over. It was not only the game that was won by Yukimura but also the Kantou championship as Rikkaidai defeated Seigakus D2 (the Momoshiro-Kaidoh pair who went against Niou and Marui) and S3 (Inui who went against Yagyuu). Yukimura and Tezuka walked towards each other until it is only the net that is separating them.

"Congratulations, Yukimura," Tezuka said as he held his right hand before the Rikkai buchou, "your three years of hard work completely paid off."

"Arigatou, Tezuka," Yukimura replied, taking the others hand, "lets have another match in the Nationals."

"Hai," Tezuka answered as they let go of each others hands, "you better walk towards your team or else they would attack you here," he added, shifting his head to the rest of the Rikkai team.

Smiling, Yukimura looked over his teammates and saw Sanada trying to stop Niou, Marui and Kirihara from running down the court. "I guess I would prefer waiting for them here than going back there," Yukimura said, looking back at Tezuka, "you have an odd sense of humor but I think Ill choose that over Atobe's."

If Tezuka replied to Yukimura's unexpected comment, the Rikkai buchou did not get a chance and would never get a chance to know what it is because at that very moment, Marui and Kirihara have clung their arms around him and the rest of the Rikkai team have suddenly surrounded him. The rest came as a blur Rikkaidai and Seigaku thanked each other for an awesome game, the Rikkai team accepted their trophy, certificates and medals. They were already set to go to a fast food chain or a restaurant to celebrate their hard-earned victory when a high school girl called the attention of Rikkaidais resident trickster.

"Haru!!!" Takano called, running towards the Rikkai team.

"Miyuki!" Niou exclaimed, surprise, "What are you doing here? I thought I told you that I'll call you later?"

Panting, Miyuki answered, "I know, I know...but this is not about that," she explained and looked over Yukimura, "you better come to the hospital – Kiyoko – she was brought in the ER!"

"Why would she be brought to the ER?!" Yukimura asked, confused.

Takano turned to Niou, who is also giving her the same confused look, and back to Yukimura. Biting her lower lip, she said, "She was here...she watched your match..."

"Nani?!" Yukimura asked, shocked, "She's not yet allowed to go out of the hospital, how in the earth did she get here?!"

"Izumi...she brought her here..." Takano answered in a small and almost inaudible voice.

With intense emotions running up his spine, Yukimura quickly bolted towards the exit of the tennis courts. Fortunately, the nearest hospital was still the hospital that his cousin was confined to. Not minding about the fast cars that are quickly passing by, Yukimura crossed the street and straight to the hospitals entrance. Completely filled with panic, Yukimura turned to his left and right, trying to remember where the ER was. Catching the signboard in the reception area, he saw the arrow indicating the ERs location pointing on the left side. Still running, he disregarded the doctors, nurses and patients that he passed by until he finally reached the ER.

Going over the reception area, Yukimura tried to calm himself down, and asked the nurse, "Where's the patient, Aizawa Kiyoko?"

Surprised by Yukimura's sudden appearance, the nurse saw the look of insurgency in the boys face, and answered, "She was just brought to the ICU."

"Arigatou," Yukimura said and quickly left the ER.

Not wanting to wait for the elevators, Yukimura used the stairs on going up to the ICU. Arriving on the floor where the ICU is located, he quickly saw familiar people girls sitting at the chairs at the nearby ICU room. One of them, Hira Shizuko, quickly recognized his presence, "Yukimura-san."

Calming his breath after a long run, Yukimura walked towards the ICU room and looked through the glass doors. He saw his cousin lying on a bed completely unconscious with various tubes around her once again and nurses and doctors who are still observing her condition. Looking away from the scene, Yukimura turned over the people who are with him. His anger suddenly filled him as he saw Hattori sitting in front of him.

"_You_!" Yukimura yelled, walking towards Hattori.

Preparing herself, Hattori stood up and took a step forward. Fortunately, a pair of arms quickly wrapped around Yukimura and pulled him away from Hattori.

"Yukimura, _calm down_!" Niou told his buchuo.

"How _could_ you?! Is it still not enough for you?!" Yukimura exclaimed, ignoring Niou.

Hattori looked at Yukimura, straight in the eye while Takano wrapped her hands on her right arm, completely nervous.

Unfazed by Hattoris sharp gaze, Yukimura continued, "You have already done so much to her! Enough to already kill her! Do you really want her to _die_?!"

"If I really want her to die, I should've just easily poisoned or stabbed her during one of my visits, I have all the time in the world to do that, _am I right_?" Hattori told him, sharply, "but you know what, I or anyone no longer needs to do those things...she's dying on her _own_ anyway..."

"Why – you!"

"Goodness, how _stupid_ of me! You _don't_ know about _that_!" Hattori yelled at him, taking a step forward, "You don't know that she can no longer live a normal life just like before! You don't know that she's no longer responding to any of her treatments and her medicines! You don't know that she can never be cured anymore because you were not here to listen to all those things when the doctors have talked to your okaasan about her condition!"

Yukimura widened his eyes as he tried to digest all the words that Hattori has said. Niou felt Yukimura relaxed in his grasps and finally released him from his arms.

"Shocked, are you? You better be," Hattori said, still looking at Yukimura with a gaze that are sharp as a knife, "before you start rambling about being kept in the dark, you must first know that it's what Kiyoko wants – Kiyoko wanted to be the one to tell you personally that she's already dying but you were _never_ here and _I_ hate myself because of that," she admitted, trying to keep her face as hard as a stone in order to stop herself from crying, "it's because of me that's why you never came to visit her but she's running out of time, she can't wait for you anymore...she wanted to be the one to make the move...and just like killing two birds with one stone, she decided that it would be perfect to see you on your match because she thinks that it'll be the last tennis match that she will ever watch..."

Looking away, Yukimura felt guilty with his stubbornness.

"She asked me to talk to the doctors and your okaasan to let her watch your tennis match," Hattori went on, "but she wasn't permitted to do so...she cried because she wanted to see you doing what you do best and since I don't want her to cry or to be sad, even if it's wrong, I slipped her out of here...if only you could've seen her face when she saw you play and win your match, you would be able to see her in her happiest, I never made her smile like that," she explained, finally letting her emotions take over her, "this_ isn't_ about you and me...this is about Kiyoko and making the remaining days of her life as happy as possible...but I can't blame you because you have no idea that she was already dying..._because you were not here_..."

"I – I'm –" Yukimura began, turning back Hattori.

"I don't want to hear it," Hattori cut him through, slipping her arm off Takanos hold, "_I'm done here_."

Yukimura clenched his fists, tightly, as he watch Hattori leave all on them in front of the ICU. Feeling stupid at that moment, Yukimura looked away at everyone and turned to face the wall, leaning himself on it. Feeling completely helpless, he gave the wall several hard punches regardless of the pain. Exhausted, he let himself slipped down towards the floor. No one among his team dared to go near him and pulled him up, they just stared at his back, not knowing what they should say or do.

Seeing the helplessness of the situation, Hira Chikako cleared her throat, and said, "Your cousin won't be regaining consciousness for an hour or so, it'll be better if you take care of other things as of the moment, if you're ready, just go to the rooftop, she's just going to be there..."

--- --- ---

Taking Chikako's advice, Yukimura proceeded to the rooftop. For thirty minutes or so, he just leaned at the door leading outside, trying to figure out the things he should say to Hattori. He believes that an apology will not be enough, Hattori will need a tremendous amount of explanation for her to forgive him and he just does not have that. Turning towards the door, he put his hand on the knob and slightly opened the door. Peering outside, he saw Hattori ahead, her head low and her hands holding onto the fences. Getting cold feet all of the sudden, Yukimura slowly closed the door and turned back, ready to descend down the hospital.

"She's waiting," Niou said, showing himself to his buchuo.

Yukimura looked up to Niou, startled.

"Remember the first time you met her? You were also struggling to explain yourself and even though it took you long, she still waited...she may looked so pissed at that time but she still patiently waited for you to begin," Niou told Yukimura with a soft smile, "but you were so slow that she decided to ask if she can already leave...don't let it get to that point because this time, she won't be asking for your permission _anymore_..."

"But...what will I tell her?" Yukimura asked, hesitantly, "I don't even know what I should say to start off a conversation with her..."

"I don't know...but I don't think you should start with an 'I'm sorry' or 'I love you'," Niou answered, smirking, making Yukimura smile a little in return, "just get out there, I'm sure it will come to you..."

Nodding in agreement, Yukimura turned his back to Niou. Taking a very deep breath, Yukimura opened the door once more and finally stepped out. Closing the door behind him, Yukimura saw Hattori's head looked up. Taking another breath, Yukimura tried to walk casually towards Hattori. Realizing that he still could not afford to stand close to her, Yukimura stopped in his tracks and stand within arms length towards her.

"I used to come here a lot three years ago," Yukimura begun all of the sudden, unsure even to himself where those words came from, "I was confined in this hospital...I was diagnosed with Guillan-Barre Syndrome, I have to stop playing tennis...they also told me that I could die with or without the operation...it was scary, very."

Hattori turned to him, with a blank expression, and asked, "Why are you telling me this?"

"...because you were right," Yukimura answered, trying to not be fazed by Hattori's hard gaze, "you were right, I should've been here...I should've known how she's doing..."

Softening her gaze, Hattori waited for Yukimura to continue.

"...but you know what? I'm glad, somehow, that I wasn't here," Yukimura added, walking towards the edge of the rooftop and looking down the busy streets of Tokyo, "because when I was the one here, I didn't have someone like you...I was alone most of the time and even if okaasan was always here to visit me, eveything's still empty and hopeless...even Sanada and the rest of my teammates couldn't do anything for me, they also feel helpless when they visit me..." he explained, looking up to stare at the horizon, "like them, I think I won't be able to do anything for Kiyoko as well..."

"I didn't do anything special," Hattori said, looking down the floor.

"You were always here, taking care of her and cheering her up, you even slipped her out of here," Yukimura said, turning to look at her, "I won't be able to do anything you did for her..."

"All I did was to step into your shoes, do the things you should be doing for her, besides it's my fault she's here in the first place..." Hattori told him, avoiding Yukimura's gaze, "it's my fault why you can't be here..."

"Ha-Izumi..._go-gomen_..." Yukimura said, making Hattori looked at him with her given name, "the thing about the two of us, I should've put it aside...again, you were right, this is not about you and me...this is about Kiyoko..."

"Forget about it, you're finally here now, you finally know everything," Hattori cut through, looking away once again, "just like what I said, _I'm done here_."

Exactly just like what happened awhile ago, Hattori began to walk towards the door. Yukimura felt his heartbeat go faster. Without thinking, Yukimura turned away from the fence and went after Hattori. Reaching over Hattori's right wrist and pulling her into a tight embrace. Surprised by Yukimura's sudden action, Hattori widened her eyes and did not have the chance to react against the embrace.

"Please, don't. Please..._stay_..." Yukimura whispered to her ear, tightening his embrace around Hattori, "I-I want you beside me...I _need_ you with me...Izumi, I-_I love you_."

Hattori felt her knees go weak in the last three words Yukimura had said, making her lean more onto him.

"You...you don't know what you're talking about..." Hattori told him, shutting her eyes, trying to block the tears that are tempting to fall, "you...you can't..."

Releasing Hattori from his arms and holding both of her hands, he asked, "Why can't I?"

"...because you don't deserve someone like me..." Hattori told him, opening her eyes and looking straight at Yukimura, "because I've done so much to give you enough reason to hate me..."

"Please, that's enough...I know I said a lot of harsh things to you, but _please_..." Yukimura told her, pleading, "_gomen_...I was just angry and..._jealous_..." he added, explaining, "jealous because I thought I would never have a chance to love you...but now I know that I do and I won't let that chance slip again, so _please_..."

"But..."

"Don't you feel at least _anything_ towards me?" Yukimura asked, thinking that whatever he or Niou or Shizuko had thought was wrong.

Hattori did not answer him at once, she just stared at Yukimura's deep blue eyes that are looking at her intently. All of the sudden, everything that had happened from the first time they met flashed before her all the way to where the two of them are now the two of them at the hospitals rooftop, her standing before Yukimura with her hands being held gently by him and Yukimura looking down on her with hopeful eyes. Feeling helpless and trapped, she smiled and threw her arms around Yukimura and cried harder on his shoulder.

"I love you too," Hattori said in a muffled voice but Yukimura, smiling, heard her loud and clear as he wrapped his arms around her once again.

--- --- --- --- ---

To be continued...

--- --- --- --- ---


	13. Chapter 13

**All the Truth He Should Know  
**-clavee-  
--- --- --- --- ---

Authors Note: As promised, the 13th chapter!=) honestly, this isnt included on my original outline, it just sort of came to my head. Hope you like it. Will start writing the 14th now (or tomorrow). Hope you read and review!=D

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis.

Chapter 13: Escaping Guilt

_"Please, turn off the lights as you leave..."_

Those were the last words that she has heard from Aizawa. Hattori could barely remember what happened yesterday since it seems just an another ordinary day to her, the only thing she remembered is her visit to Aizawa in the hospital all the way up to the point she got to Yukimuras house.

As she stood at the simple but lovely garden at the backyard of the Yukimura residence, she remembers how she finished half of her tasks in the student council one hour after her classes had ended before going straight to the hospital where Yukimura was taking care of his cousin for the past three days after the Kantou tournament. Then, after two hours of staying, Aizawa told her that she should go home already to get some rest and because she still have school tomorrow, she agreed and Yukimura offered to walk her home because it was already late. She tried to refuse because that will mean that Aizawa will be left alone, Yukimura thought about it as well when his mother suddenly arrived.

She remembers how she and Yukimura walked along the busy streets of Tokyo, talking about nothing other than Aizawa's condition. After what happened during the day of the Kanto tournament, Aizawa has gotten weaker - her complexion was paler than before and she has not been eating as much as she should. Yukimura took a week off from school to look after her, still feeling guilty of his shortcomings. The people from the hospital were already giving approximates of until when Aizawa will last and though Yukimura does not want them to be, he knows that his cousin's time will eventually come soon enough. Hattori would wish to be at the hospital everyday as well but Aizawa objected against the idea, telling her that she has been spending so much time in the hospital already and that Hira Shizuko have told her that she has been missing her student council activities. Instead of arguing, Hattori just resolved to doing what Aizawa wanted her to do.

She remembers when the two of them finally reached her house and when Yukimura's cellphone suddenly rang because of a call from his sister.

_"Moshi moshi," Yukimura answered.___

_"Onii-chan!" his younger sister called from the other end of the line, sounding frantic._

_"What's wrong?" Yukimura asked, worried, "Did anything happened to you? Where are you?"_

_"I'm fine, I'm at the hospital," the girl answered, trying to calm herself down in order for her brother to understand her, "it's not about me, onii-chan, it's about Kiyoko-chan..."_

_Yukimura felt his heart beat go faster, and asked, "What's going on?"_

_"You better come back quick," the girl told him as she started to cry, "just come back quick..."_

_"Hai, hai," Yukimura assured her, "I'm on my way."_

_Yukimura dropped the call and turned to Hattori, and said, "I need to go back to the hospital now, it seems that something has happened to Kiyoko...would you like to come back there?"_

She remembers how worried she was as she nodded. The two of them sprinted back to the hospital and by the time they reached Aizawa's room at the hospital, the nurses and the doctors are already leaving the room. She remembers how she put a hand to mouth when she figured out what had already happened. Yukimura looked at her and silently told her that they should get inside. Unconsciously, she complied, remembering the first time Yukimura brought her here - just like then, she does not want to step inside, and just like then, she was scared of what she will find. For a moment, Hattori and Yukimura stood by the door and saw Yukimura's mother and sister hugging each other while Yukimura's mother hold Aizawa's hands. Hattori looked away for a second to stop her tears from falling and by the time she looked back at Aizawa, Yukimura was already the one holding his cousin's hand.

Seeing how hurt Yukimura and his family is, she could not help but remember all the time that she and Aizawa was still together. She could not believe that it only took barely a minute to remember all of it. She remembered how she sought after Aizawa, how Aizawa agreed to be with her, how the school found out about them, how they tried to pulled them away from each other, how Aizawa broke up with her, how she disagreed with her decision, and how Aizawa left with saying a word to her. Hattori is not ashamed to admit that remembering those events really broke her apart, her friends were all trying hard just to help her forward but due to her stubbornness, she decided to look for Aizawa. Yes, she did wanted her back but after encountering unexpected occurrences which entirely revolves around by a guy named Yukimura Seiichi and her plans changed all of the sudden - she no longer wanted her back, she just wants to apologized with all the things she have done to her especially when she found out what happened to Aizawa.

Not being able to bear everything that had happened since Aizawa left her, Hattori resolved to cry. Despite the beautiful flowers that surrounds her at that moment, it could not do anything to lighten up the heavy weight inside her. Since last night, none of the Yukimuras have taken a good night sleep - Aizawa was taken to the morgue accompanied by Yukimura's mother while Yukimura and her sister went back to Kanagawa to set everything up. Wanting to be useful, Hattori asked Yukimura if there is anything she can do, explaining the fact that she would not be able to attend school the next day after everything that had happened. Agreeing, Yukimura let her to come with them back to Kanagawa to help them do all the arrangements they need to do.

Yukimura appeared at the back door and saw Hattori walk from the middle of the garden to right side where all the roses of different colors are organized. Frowning, he watch her knelt down and stared at the only fully-bloomed white rose. Sighing, Yukimura turned to his side where all of his garden tools are neatly placed. He picked his shears and made his way to Hattori. Kneeling beside her, Yukimura reached out to the white rose and cut it with the shears.

Hattori snapped from her endless reverie at the snap of the shears, turning to her side, she was surprised to see Yukimura kneeling beside her. Yukimura gave her a small smile and held the white rose to her. Unsure to take it, Hattori stared at the white rose then to Yukimura's deep blue eyes that are giving her all the comfort that she needs in the world at that moment. Smiling weakly, Hattori accepted the white rose and inhaled its fragrance.

"Arigatou," Hattori said, looking back at Yukimura.

Smiling, Yukimura told her, "You haven't got any sleep, you can use my room."

Blushing at the invitation, Hattori looked away, saying, "It's okay, I'm fine."

"C'mon," Yukimura insisted, "Chikako-san and Miyuki-san are waiting for you there..."

Hattori looked back at Yukimura, she forgot that her two best friends, as well as the younger Hira, have skipped school as well. The three girls surprisingly showed up at 7:00am in the morning at the from of the Yukimura residence. The older Hira quickly held her a bag with some of her clothes for her to change into and while Yukimura and his sister were finishing everything they need to do along with her, the three girls prepared breakfast for them.

"They're _extremely_ worried about you," Yukimura said, standing up.

Looking up at Yukimura, Hattori nodded, saying, "Hai."

Together, they walked back inside the house. Yukimura led Hattori to his room where Takano and the older Hira are really waiting for her.

"_Finally_!" Takano exclaimed, jumping up from Yukimura's chair, "You're here!"

"Where's Shizuko?" Hattori asked.

"She's helping Yukimura-san's imouto," the older Hira answered.

"You don't have to worry about anything," Yukimura told Hattori, "you should take some rest."

"Hai," Hattori said, "arigatou."

Smiling in reply, Yukimura stepped out of his room and leaned at the door for a while, enough to hear Hattori's cries. Closing his eyes for a moment, he fought the urge to go back inside the room. After a minute or so, Yukimura went back downstairs with Hattori's cries echoing in his ears.

--- --- ---

"You think we can leave her already?" Takano asked, looking over Hattori's sleeping figure, "I mean, she's been asleep for more than an hour now."

Sitting at the bed, Hira pushed away some of Hattori's hair from her face, and said, "I think we can go back down now but..."

"Do you think she'll be crying all over again?" Takano asked, turning to Hira.

Staring at Hattori, Hira still feels exhausted from calming Hattori down awhile ago. Hira and Takano watched Hattori stare at the door as Yukimura step out of the room. The moment the door was completely shut, Hattori dropped the white rose she was carefully holding the moment she stepped inside the room and completely broke down - Hattori knelt down on the floor and covered her face with her hands. It took almost 30 minutes to calm her down and Hira and Takano are at lost on what they should do. In order to calm Hattori down, Hira just resolved to wrapping her arms around her friend.

"Iie," Hira answered, "I think she'll be fine, we should go down now, Yukimura-san will need some assistance."

Takano nodded and the two of them silently left Hattori in the room. Unfortunately, the moment Hira shut the door, Hattori slowly opened her eyes. Making sure that her friends would not see her awake, Hattori sat up on the bed as slowly as possible. When she have finally straightened herself up, she turned to Yukimura's study table and saw the white rose he gave her awhile ago. Perhaps because of the white rose's simple beauty, Hattori could easily gave herself a small smile. Walking over the table and picking the white rose up, Hattori stared at its delicate petals and caress them gently.

Looking intently at the white rose, Hattori whispered, "Gomen...but I have to do this..."

Hattori fished out her cellphone from her pocket, she looked for her mother's number. Finally finding it, Hattori pressed the 'call' button and waited for her mother to answer.

"Izumi?" Hattori's mother answered.

"Hai, okaa-sama," Hattori replied, still looking at white rose, "it's me..."

"Our butler said you have a friend who died last night," Hattori's mother said, "is it true? How are you now?"

"Terrible," Hattori answered, choking up, "it's all my fault, okaa-sama...it's _all_ my fault..."

"Shhh...don't say that," Hattori's mother told her daughter, "I'm taking the flight back there tomorrow morning, I know you're going to be depressed that's why I already arranged everything, I'll be there soon..."

"Ne, okaa-sama," Hattori began, trying to keep herself steady, "do you remember the conversation we had before the school year started?"

"About studying in France?" Hattori's mother asked, confused.

"Hai," Hattori answered, "can-can I still take it?"

--- --- ---

To be continued...

--- --- ---


End file.
